Ricoh has bought UK integrator Pure AV and Danish integrator AVC in a move that shores up its AV integration expertise across Europe.
Electronics company Ricoh said the workforces of both companies would be retained and they would both continue to operate under their existing names.
Pure AV was founded in 2003 and has a strong project history in higher education as well as commercial installation. The company has 72 employees operating across the UK, as well as on customer projects globally. Ricoh will take on Pure AV’s existing sites.
Edward Hamilton, vice president, communication services, Ricoh Europe, said: “Not only will [the acquisition of Pure AV] accelerate our organic growth in this sector, it will strengthen our technical design and delivery capability within the corporate, higher education and healthcare markets. Leveraging the specialist skills of Pure AV creates opportunities for lifelong learning and up-skilling of Ricoh’s existing employees, meaning our customers receive an even more diverse and extensive level of support.”
Phil Keoghan, CEO, Ricoh UK, added: “Pure AV has been selected based on its strong market position, engineering capability and customer base. The acquisition will enable Ricoh to expand further into this market and deliver customer projects at a larger scale, thus supporting the most ambitious digital transformation programmes.”
Peter Sutton, managing director, Pure AV, said: “We’re excited to start a new chapter that will allow us to accelerate our long-term growth strategy while delivering best-in-class solutions to our clients in the UK and Europe. Ricoh's worldwide infrastructure and end-to-end managed services expertise, combined with the strength of our design, engineering, and support services, will enable us to deliver powerful solutions on a local and global scale.”
Founded in 1965, AVC is an AV, unified communication and workplace management specialist with headquarters in Horsens, Denmark. Boasting a strong presence in the Danish AV integrator market, AVC has 56 employees supporting around 800 customers locally and globally.
Søren Krogh-Nielsen, managing director of Ricoh Denmark and Sweden, said: “When looking to further expand our AV and workplace integration capabilities, it was instantly clear that AVC shared our strong people focused culture. The specialist skills and expertise of their people will ensure our customers benefit from even greater dedicated support and enhanced collaboration through leading workplace technology.”
Niels Bull, managing director, AVC, said: “Ricoh has strong ambitions and we are pleased that AVC will be an important part of realising these. AVC brings Ricoh a market-leading team in the design and implementation of advanced AV solutions. In turn, Ricoh ensures that AVC can offer international reach and a broader range of products and services for the digital workplace”.