Apogee signals ambition to expand reach

Print management specialist Apogee has signalled its intent to grow the business on the other side of the English Channel. The HP-owned firm has invested into MCA to set up an independent operation that will support its European growth ambitions.

The first move by the MCA-Apogee venture is to acquire AM Trust’s print management solutions business in France for an undisclosed sum.

“MCA-Apogee are delighted to announce the partnership with Apogee that has enabled the acquisition of AM Trust managed print service business. AM Trust has built a formidable reputation in the MPS marketplace over the past few decades, which will strengthen and complement MCA-Apogee’s expertise and ability to support its clients throughout France,” said Salem El-Hammami, president of MCA-Apogee.

“MCA-Apogee, leveraging Apogee Corporation’s unique capabilities, will provide customers a perfect combination of print, document management and IT services with one goal, to create a secure and flexible workplace,” he added.

In response, Jean Koja, founder of AM Trust, said that it was the right time to sell and get involved with a fellow managed print player.

AM-Trust employees will transfer to the new MCA-Apogee operation but will maintain business as usual providing managed services to their customer base.

“We are very pleased with this merger with MCA-Apogee, which confirms our leadership position in France. Their connections with HP and current experience in delivering managed services across the UK and Europe, will ensure all customers will continue to benefit from leading managed digital solutions and services,” he said.

Apogee has dipped into the M&A market and sealed 20 deals in its recent history and kept that going even after it was picked up by HP a few years ago. The focus has been on adding more depth to the managed print offering and  and Aurelio Maruggi, CEO of the MPS player, said that it had been clear about its ambition to build on the position it had built up in the UK and replicate that on the continent.

“This investment represents another significant step for Apogee towards establishing a pan European presence, extending the leadership in managed workplace services established in the UK to other major European countries,” he said.

“MCA and AM Trust have a long and successful history in managed print services and the partnership with Apogee will open new opportunities in managed workplace solutions with existing and new customers,” he added.

Interest in managed print services continues to grow, with an expectation that more users will adopt cloud-based services as a result of the shift to hybrid working.

Quocirca’s Cloud print services report 2022 provided a snapshot of the expected growth in the next couple of years, with a shift to cloud expected to be one of the main developments.

Cloud services were flagged as the top investment area, and the shift to hosted is already a reality for many, with 45% of customers implementing remote print job submission options to help hybrid workers.