News

The Nymölla production site in Sweden

M&A at Stora Enso and Sylvamo

Stora Enso has announced the acquisition of De Jong Packaging Group in a deal worth more than €1 billion ($1 billion). The transaction is still subject to works council consultation and regulatory approval, but is expected to close at the beginning of 2023.

The addition of De Jong, a leading player in the European renewable corrugated packaging segment with expected revenues of around €1 billion this year, will more than double Stora Enso’s corrugated packaging capacity and give it an entry into the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and UK markets for this product segment.

In line with its strategy to offload its cut paper business and four of its five paper production sites, Stora Enso has also signed an agreement to divest its Maxau site in Germany and all related assets to Schwarz Produktion. The acquirer is part of retail giant Schwarz Group, owner of the Lidl and Kaufland banners.

Papermaker Sylvamo, meanwhile, has agreed to buy another of the Finnish company’s production sites – the one that makes Stora Enso’s Multicopy brand of office papers. Sylvamo will pay €150 million for the uncoated freesheet (UFS) paper mill in Nymölla, Sweden. The integrated mill has two pulp lines and the capacity to produce about 485,000 tonnes of UFS on two paper machines.

Sylvamo’s plan is to integrate Nymölla into its own global paper business, and the location’s 520 employees will be part of the transaction. TreeToTextile, the sustainable textile fibre company, is not included in the deal, although it will continue operations at the site.

Sylvamo referred to Nymölla as a “strategic bolt-on acquisition”. It certainly gives the vendor a better balance in its European and global operations following the decision to exit the Russian market earlier this year. Including Nymölla, Sylvamo will have a UFS production capacity of around 2.5 million tonnes, split into 39% Latin America, 34% North America and 27% Europe.

This transaction too is expected to close no later than in the first quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

VOW expands dealer services

VOW Wholesale has launched an enhanced suite of initiatives as part of its service offering to resellers.

Managing Director Adrian Butler said VOW recognises that it has been an extremely tough period for resellers over the past few years and is determined to support them. The new supportive measures include:

• An incremental growth rebate to facilitate improved commercial terms to help soften cost of goods increases and allow resellers to gain up to a 30% rebate on incremental purchases in the traditional and facilities categories. • The re-introduction of timed dealer drops in the morning to provide service flexibility. These will give qualifying resellers the option to receive deliveries at a time that then

allows for better planning of onward delivery with their own vans. • Improved order tracking through the commencement of end-to-end scanning for all deliveries made via

Truline. This development provides complete visibility of all orders within VOW’s Self-Serve Portal through real-time tracking. • VOW Specials for bespoke product sourcing, whereby customers can raise a request via VOW’s Self-Serve

Portal, which is then handled by a dedicated team to source and quote on non-stocked items.

Butler said: “We have listened to the feedback we have received, which has helped us identify some crucial steps towards a more sustainable and collaborative future for resellers, VOW and the industry as a whole.”

Green light for Fujitsu-Ricoh deal

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has not blocked the majority sale of Fujitsu’s PFU scanner business to Ricoh. In April, Ricoh agreed to buy 80% of PFU – which has annual sales of around $1 billion – for $645 million. The deal had been expected to close on 1 July but was delayed as a review by the JFTC took longer than expected.

Both companies confirmed that the sale would go ahead and the transaction was consummated on 1 September.

HP Inc concludes Poly deal

Significantly expanding its hybrid work offering, HP Inc has completed the acquisition of workplace collaboration solutions provider, Poly.

Bought for around $3.3 billion, HP forecasts the deal, first announced in March, to be accretive to earnings in FY23 post-merger. Providing videoconferencing equipment, cameras, headsets, voice and software, Poly helps HP tap into office meeting room resources for hybrid working and collaboration – a segment predicted to triple by 2024. In addition, Poly is expected to help drive innovation and scale in two of HP’s key growth areas of peripherals and workforce solutions.

In terms of leadership, Poly CEO Dave Shull will join HP Inc as President, Workforce Services & Solutions, starting 1 November. Meanwhile, Andy Rhodes will manage HP-Poly as General Manager, Hybrid Work Solutions & Peripherals.

Rhodes, who joined HP in 2018, has formerly headed the company’s commercial Personal Systems business and built the global peripherals organisation. He will continue to report to HP Personal Systems President, Alex Cho.

GSA moves ahead with marketplace project

The US General Services Administration (GSA) recently issued a request for proposal (RFP) for its online Commercial Platforms (CP) initiative, which is potentially worth billions of dollars.

The GSA has been working on an e-marketplace concept for almost five years as it seeks to provide efficiencies in ad hoc spending for commercial off-the-shelf items. In August 2020, a proof-of-concept phase began involving three contractors: Amazon Business, Overstock Government and Fisher Scientific.

Earlier this year, the GSA provided an update on this pilot stage of the programme, revealing that, in the 12 months to 30 September 2021, 20 federal government agencies had placed 45,000 orders through the marketplace, spending a total of $11.7 million.

Following a request for feedback on the proof-of-concept, the GSA is now preparing to award full-blown CP contracts. In September, it issued an RFP for operators of “commercially available online platforms that can provide the government with B2B online shopping capabilities”.

There’s a list of requirements that must be met by bidders. One of these is owning, operating and managing an online commercial platform that is widely used in the private sector and has sales with multiple federal government agencies and their cardholders.

Interested parties had until 30 September to submit their proposals. They will be judged based on four factors: platform capabilities, prior experience, a performance work statement document, and a live test demonstration.

The GSA is planning to award multiple contracts. Each will be for a minimum period of 12 months, with four further one-year extension options.

BOSS outlines route ahead

UK trade association BOSS held its Members’ Day in September, with CEO Amy Hutchinson outlining four core pillars to grow engagement and membership. She said networking and recognition, support, development and thought leadership would provide the bedrock for BOSS over the coming years.

The day started with the AGM, BOSS Chairman Simon Drakeford providing an association update and then welcoming new board members – Integra Business Solutions CEO Aidan McDonough and YPO Finance Director Julie Hawley.

The keynote speaker was Vicky Pryce, Chief Economic Advisor at CEBR, who guided the audience through the impact of the economic crisis on business. This was followed by a panel featuring industry executives discussing what this means for our sector, upcoming issues, potential future opportunities and the role BOSS can play to help.

Vicky Pryce

MPS firms acquired

Canada-based Valsoft, a company specialising in the acquisition and development of software firms, has bought Italy’s MPS Monitor and Euroform in Denmark, thereby entering the managed print services (MPS) space.

The two companies are globally recognised as providers of innovative, integrated and secure remote monitoring and management systems available to the print industry. Both have close partnerships and collaborations with all the major players in the printer market.

Valsoft’s new MPS Vertical business will be led by Nicola De Blasi who, while maintaining his role as CEO of MPS Monitor, will also take on the same position at Euroform.

Prima Software announces merger

UK-based Prima Software and Foresight Technology have merged to deliver enhanced business intelligence (BI) reporting.

Foresight Technology was founded over ten years ago and its solution, VantagePOINT, delivers advanced reporting solutions to some of the largest resellers in the UK. Founder Terry Thurgood will be joining the Prima Board as BI Director and will manage the PowerBI development team in the creation of a new reporting module within the Prima back-office system.

VantagePOINT will be added to the Prima Software product portfolio and rebranded as PrimaVANTAGE. As part of the merger, Chris Geer and Dan Thurgood will also join the Prima team.

ODP to sell corporate HQ

The ODP Corporation (ODP) has agreed to sell its corporate headquarters in Florida. The business products group – which includes the Office Depot retail business in the US – said it has reached a definitive agreement for a sale and partial leaseback of its Boca Raton-based location.

Upon completion of the sale – which is expected by the end of this year – ODP said it “expects” to lease a portion of the building’s office space from the new owner and continue to occupy it as the company’s headquarters for a minimum of two years.

In 2017, ODP (then still known as Office Depot), acquired the site for around $132 million. At the time, CEO Gerry Smith said this strengthened the company’s financial position “by reducing ongoing expenses and providing sustained value in the property”.

ODP did not reveal how much it had sold its headquarters for, but said it will provide additional details of the transaction when it has closed.

Chip Coyle

ECI names CMO

ECI Software Solutions has hired Chip Coyle as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Coyle will be responsible for building on ECI’s global marketing and demand generation strategy, overseeing its execution across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, and reinvigorating the ECI brand.

Changed role for Lyreco’s Chochoy

Long-standing Lyreco exec Marc Chochoy became Group Marketplace Director at the beginning of September and is now in charge of the reseller’s new online marketplace, a development which is focused on selling sustainable products and services. It’s so far gone live in Italy and will be rolled out into other markets soon.

More hires at OT Group

The UK & Ireland’s OT Group has bolstered its management team with two appointments.

Taking on the role of Head of Digital Solutions is Paulene Samuels, who has moved to OT Group from Office Depot UK, where she spent almost 16 years, most recently helping with the consolidation of Office Depot Europe’s e-commerce team.

Meanwhile, Emma Foster, as Business Solutions Manager, will spearhead OT Group’s goal to take its online product range to three million SKUs – a key part of its Crown Commercial Service framework contract and its wholesaling ambitions with Spicers.

New hygiene leader at Essity

Don Lewis, President of the Professional Hygiene division at global hygiene company Essity, will leave the company by the end of 2022. He has been with the supplier (including when it was known as SCA) for the past 20 years and became President in 2016.

Pablo Fuentes will assume the role, which will now also include responsibility for Latin America Professional Hygiene, from 1 January 2023. Fuentes has been with Essity since 2006, becoming Latin America President in 2016.

Marc Chochoy

Paulene Samuels

Emma Foster

Don Lewis

OPI was very saddened to learn of the death of Martin Bentley, a popular figure in the UK office products industry in the 1980s and 1990s. He passed away on 23 August, aged 76, after a battle with ill health.

Bentley joined the industry in the mid-1970s, working under Graeme Chapman at ACCO UK – where he soon made a name for himself as a creative marketer and presenter.

After 12 years at ACCO, Bentley moved to leading contract stationer Dudley. He spent another dozen years there before being appointed Managing Director of dealer group Officeteam Europe – a role he only occupied briefly before resigning over a difference of opinion on the direction of the business.

“Martin’s zest for life and enthusiasm rubbed off onto many he came across,” Chapman told OPI. “He had a unique and effective way of communicating […] and will be missed by many.”

FedEx to close stores after revenue miss

FedEx has said it is taking “aggressive” cost reduction actions, including the closure of five corporate office facilities and more than 90 FedEx Office locations. The Office shutdowns represent about 5% of the total store network.

The decision for these measures came on the back of the shipping firm’s preliminary Q1 results and trading outlook for its 2023 financial year (which began on 1 April 2022), issued in mid-September.

It said that first quarter revenue of $23.2 billion was $800 million below its previous forecasts. $500 million of this related to the FedEx Express reporting unit, which was particularly impacted by macroeconomic weakness in Asia and service challenges in Europe, the company said. The remaining $300 million shortfall was from the FedEx Ground segment.

Marcia Allan

Bruce Davie

Sergio Pereira

Mike O’Reilly

New marketing role at Office Choice

Australian dealer group Office Choice has appointed Marcia Allan to the newly created role of General Manager of Marketing, charged with enhancing its current practices and philosophies to improve efficiencies and dealer competitiveness.

Management changes at Egan Reid

Egan Reid Group, one of the UK’s largest independent dealers, has announced that former Spicers executive and ZenOffice Managing Director, Bruce Davie, has joined the business.

Davie will work alongside Charlie Reid as joint Managing Director, driving the business forward in a new chapter. Martin Reid and his brother Andrew, who have run the business for several decades since taking over from their late father Jack, will take on the roles of Chairman and CEO, respectively.

Quill President departs

Sergio Pereira, President of Quill, has left the Staples Inc-owned online reseller, after 14 years. He joined as CMO and became President of the $1.2 billion business in 2013.

Nectere names new MD

UK dealer services company Nectere has appointed long-serving Operations Director Mike O’Reilly as Managing Director, with incumbent Paul Musgrove taking on the role of Chairman.

“It is now time to restructure the Nectere board to provide the range and depth of experience we require to continue our positive growth into new product categories and to maintain our leading-edge systems,” said Musgrove.

Ninestar recruits in Germany

China-based Ninestar has opened an office in Germany with a raft of new appointments. Scott Odom – who previously worked at Clover Imaging Group EMEA – has been named Director of Sales and brings with him more than three decades’ experience in sales, marketing and manufacturing in the xerographic and IT industries.

Alongside Odom, additional team members joining Ninestar Europe will be Ralf Megerlin, Uwe Engel, Paula Marques and Tinde Nemet.

Scott Odom