Danwood bought by Apogee - report

Sources claim an official announcement is imminent

Print specialist Danwood has been snapped up by Apogee, according to a local report, and industry chatter.

Lincolnshire Business reported this morning that staff at Danwood have said Apogee has bought the firm, although neither company was immediately available to comment when contacted by CRN.

Sources familiar with the matter told CRN the same thing, and added that an announcement is due imminently this afternoon (1 March).

Apogee is an acquisitive managed print player which snapped up a number of firms across the country last year, including Direct Business Systems and Hibernian Business Equipment.

Last September, Equistone Partners Europe threw its weight behind Apogee in an undisclosed transaction which valued the business at £185m, and since then, the company put acquisitions high on the agenda.

Danwood is the UK's largest print dealer and in its most recent financial year for which audited numbers are available, ending September 2014, its sales fell 23 per cent annually, due to what it said was its failure to retain smaller clients. The firm is privately owned and partners with the likes of Canon, HP, Samsung, Xerox and Sharp.

In 2013, Steve Hibbert, Danwood's former UK sales director and US CEO, joined Apogee as its strategy director.