M&A Roundup: Offix, Visual Edge, Americom Shop Before the Holidays

It is a bit unusual for office dealers to announce acquisitions just prior to year’s end; they generally wait until after Jan. 1 to trumpet any deals made in December. But a trio of dealers—Offix, Visual Edge and Americom—decided to beat the holiday rush.

Offix, a premier provider of office technology and document
solutions, announced the acquisition of Masterfax and Copier Source, in Springfield, Virginia.

Through the acquisition of Masterfax and Copier Source, Offix expands and further solidifies its presence in the Northern Virginia and Washington, DC Metropolitan regions. The agreement also contributes to a strengthened presence in markets in the Baltimore region.

Steve Valenta, Offix

“Offix and Masterfax have informally worked together for the past 19 years. We are happy to formalize this long‐standing relationship through an acquisition that will bring together the decades‐long experience of Masterfax and the full breadth of products and services that Offix customers have come to expect from us,” said Steve Valenta, president and founder of Offix.

The announcement comes shortly after Offix’s previous deal in August when it welcomed a fourth location fueled by the acquisition of Eastern Shore Business Machines’ office equipment division.

“Both Masterfax and Offix have earned the loyalty of thousands of businesses and organizations across the United States by striving for service excellence. For the past three decades, Masterfax has delighted customers in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland by providing exceptional service with a personal touch,” added Kimberly Valenta, vice president of Offix. “We are proud to welcome Masterfax and its staff to Offix, and to continue this tradition of service through this exciting expansion.”

The newly acquired business will be operated out of Offix’s headquarters in Gainesville, Virginia, and will ensure an even more capillary presence of Offix technicians and specialists throughout its distribution area.

Visual Edge-Slash Point Sales

Visual Edge Technology is expanding its managed IT services footprint in the Midwest with its most recent acquisition of Slash Point Sales and Service of Emmetsburg, Iowa.

With nearly 15 years in the managed services industry providing engineering, implementation and management of client technology infrastructures, Slash Point brings a broad base of expertise not only to the Midwest territory but to the national Visual Edge IT brand.

“Slash Point Sales is excited to gain the ability to provide more products and services than ever before with the support and backing of a national company,” shared Ryan Berkland, owner of Slash Point Sales and Service. “Joining Visual Edge also provides more opportunities for our employees. We [Ryan and Tonya Berkland] are honored to see our business expand by partnering with Visual Edge IT.”

Slash Point Sales and Service was established in 2007 to meet the technology needs of small‐ and medium‐sized businesses in the area. They are a respected technology leader in Northwest Iowa with many long‐time clients. Slash Point has built a model of trust and proactive service through collaborative client relationships.

“Slash Point adds to our managed IT capabilities serving our Midwest markets,” said Austin Vanchieri, chairman and CEO of Visual Edge Technology. “Continuing our managed services growth both organically and through acquisitions demonstrates our bold approach in North America.”

Visual Edge has nearly 90 locations across the country that provide secure technology solutions for IT and print/copy to its customer base. With the acquisition of Slash Point Sales and Service, the Visual Edge IT brand not only increases its pool of expertise but continues to boost its reach with managed IT services and security solutions.

Americom-DMC2

Mike Dudek and Rich Wisniewski of Zygoquest Group, served as the advisor to DMC2 Inc., dba Swiftechs, and its owners, Kevin Fitzpatrick and Corinne Fitzpatrick, on the sale of assets to Americom Imaging Systems Inc. The terms of the transaction are confidential.

DMC2, headquartered in Maryland Heights, Missouri, was founded in 2012. DMC2 is a Xerox sales dealer and agent, and a full-line authorized Toshiba dealer. It sells and services HP printers, VoIP telephone systems and computer systems while providing customers throughout the greater St. Louis metropolitan market with IT network support, cybersecurity and VPNs.

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About Americom Imaging Systems
Americom Imaging Systems, headquartered in St Louis, is a full-service business technology provider with over 30 years of experience in developing creative office solutions for clients. In 1990, Americom transformed from a copy, print and fax provider into a one-stop-shop for network support, managed IT, multi-function printing, document management and telecommunications.

About Law Office of Mike Dudek
Mike Dudek owns the Law Office of Mike Dudek which provides owners and executives with customized and affordable legal services on mergers and acquisitions and other complex business transactions.

About Offix
Offix is an award-winning office equipment and technology distributor and service center serving Northern Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Richmond, Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads, and the Eastern Shore. Since its inception in 1999 and with four locations, Offix has been dedicated to supplying customers with the best office equipment and technology solutions to make businesses run more efficiently. As a certified Canon and HP dealer, Offix is proud to offer ATSP-certified technicians. Through its Service Promise, which includes uptime, response time and money-back guarantees, Offix has been able to boast a 94% customer retention rate.

About Visual Edge Inc.
Visual Edge Inc. specializes in managed IT services and security, cloud computing, and print/copy solutions for businesses across the U.S. including remote office locations. We offer a full line of office technology and services including 24/7 remote monitoring and administration of networks, service desk, and data backup and restore to improve business processes across a variety of industries. Plus, Visual Edge represents the industry’s leading manufacturers of office technology allowing businesses to get equipment, supplies and service from a single source. Backed by more than 20‐years of technology service and a national network of expert engineers, Visual Edge is uniquely positioned to support business technology needs. The company is headquartered in North Canton, Ohio.

About Zygoquest Group and Mike Dudek
Mike Dudek, an attorney and CPA, is the owner of Zygoquest Group “seeking to unite” which provides customized merger and acquisition services to buyers and sellers of companies. Zygoquest is the No. 1 M&A authority in the office products industry. Dudek and Rich Wisniewski are authors of over 500 consummated M&A transactions, including many technology services acquisitions during their careers. Prior to founding Zygoquest, Mike Dudek was vice president of acquisitions for IKON Office Solutions, a $5.5 billion NYSE company acquired by Ricoh Corporation. Dudek has evaluated transactions ranging from the smallest transactions to the largest deals in the office products industry, from million-dollar deals to multi-billion-dollar deals. The Zygoquest website contains deals you will recognize.

Erik Cagle
About the Author
Erik Cagle is the editorial director of ENX Magazine. He is an author, writer and editor who spent 18 years covering the commercial printing industry.