Xerox Sells European Paper Business

According to a statement in PrintWeek, Antalis has completed its purchase of Xerox’s European office and digital papers business.

The deal, which was first announced in June, covers Xerox’s paper, wide-format and non-paper substrates, a business reportedly worth US$405.4 million. The European-wide deal includes Xerox’s office businesses in UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The new division, Antalis Document Supplies, will be led by General Manager Doug Bishop. Bishop is a 38 year veteran Xerox executive, having led its UK office paper business for the past 6 years. The Xerox brand name will continue to be used on the product portfolio, according to the statement.

Before the deal, Antalis UK had sales of around US$765.6 million and 980 staff, with two central distribution centers and 14 regional branches across the UK and Ireland. After the deal, Antalis’ products will increase from 14,000 products to 15,000, said the statement.

David Hunter, Antalis’s UK, Ireland and South Africa’s Managing Director, affirmed the deal would represent “significant opportunities” for Antalis and its customers. He also noted that Antalis would work closely on new product development with Xerox. However, he stressed that the integration of the Xerox business would be carefully structured, to ensure continuity for customers.

“We’ve got two very good businesses here, so we have the luxury of time to look at a really sensible way of moving forward, to make sure we get it right,” said Hunter.