Midwich shelves M&A as it feels COVID-19 effect

Distie has acquired at a relentless pace over recent years

Midwich has parked its aggressive M&A strategy to focus on navigating through choppy COVID-19 waters.

The firm has acquired at a relentless pace over the last few years, with its most recent deal coming in the form of US VAD Starin Marketing, taking it across the Atlantic for the first time.

Midwich said that the extent of the coronavirus' disruption varies from country to country, adding that it has paused acquisitions and scrapped its dividend for 2019.

"We have taken actions across the group to preserve cash and liquidity," the distie said.

"Measures undertaken include the temporary suspension of acquisition activities and capital expenditure together with tighter controls on working capital and overheads."

Midwich added that customers in its end user markets have been impacted, but said that business has, as expected, been strong in the collaboration and remote working space.

It revealed that it has "recently supplied solutions to support the UK and Italian governments in their battle with COVID-19".

The firm added that it is "too early to accurate determine" the full impact of the pandemic.