Arena Group Acquires Docucentric Holdings Ltd
Monday 19th December 2016
A team from Yorkshire law firm Gordons’ corporate department led by partner, Jonathan Asquez, assisted by corporate solicitor, Amanda Hughes, advised Arena Group on both this latest acquisition and the company’s purchase of Acorn Business Machines last year.
Arena Group acqured Docucentric Holdings Ltd. (DHL), the latest milestone in the company’s 25 year history. This deal will see Arena’s footprint for managed print services further extend across North Wales and the North West of England and grow from £19 million turnover to over £24.5 million.
Docucentric Holdings Ltd. consists of two trading companies; B2 Business Systems Ltd (B2), established in 1991 and a Xerox concessionaire operating out of Deeside, and Business Systems (North Wales) Ltd trading as Docucentric established in 2010 and a Toshiba and Canon reseller. The deal complements Arena Group’s existing presence in the North West while extending the business’s reach into North Wales. As part of the deal, B2’s Peter Ryan will retain the position of managing director and play a key role in driving future growth in that region.
Arena’s current network of offices in Wakefield, Garforth, Chesterfield, Grantham, Atherton and Stockton-on-Tees will be extended to include B2 in Deeside and Docucentric in St Asaph, and the total workforce will exceed 200.
“This is the latest chapter in Arena’s rich, 25 year history of business growth founded on guiding principles of excellence in customer service, strong customer partnerships, technological expertise and a positive working culture,” explains Adrian Fitzpatrick, Arena’s managing director, “We are delighted that the Arena family has been extended to include 36 more colleagues and over new 800 customers.”
“With the same forward thinking outlook as our company, we believe that this new partnership provides synergy between the two brands together with opportunities of substantial growth well into the future,” comments Peter Ryan, managing director of DHL. “Arena Group will work with DHL to support a period of expansion going forward, with a view to increasing the DHL team by a further 10 members.”
Gordons’ Amanda Hughes adds: “Arena Group’s management team have a clear plan to enable the business’s continued expansion. We are proud to have played our part in helping realise the plan so far with these two most recent acquisitions and look forward to seeing the next phase of the company’s growth.”
Arena was founded in October 1991 in a workshop in Hunslet, Leeds with 10 employees, driven by a commitment to create a commercially successful business selling and servicing photocopiers built on a foundation of outstanding customer service. Arena developed its portfolio to include its own electronic document management software, mstore. The DHL acquisition is the 9th undertaken by Arena as part of the business’ strategy alongside organic growth.