This week’s transactional activity included moves made by a prominent dealer—Gordon Flesch Company (GFC)—which picked up Advanced Systems Inc. (ASI), while manufacturer HP annexed security start-up Bromium.
GFC signed an agreement to acquire ASI, an independent office technology dealer with offices in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. The combined company will be known as the Gordon Flesch Company and will be the largest independent office equipment dealership in the midwest.
GFC and ASI share decades of experience in the office equipment space and are among the nation’s largest Canon and Lexmark dealers. GFC was recently recognized as Canon U.S.A.’s largest independent dealership for the past five years, while ASI has been continually recognized as a Canon Top Dealer.
In addition to remarkably similar service and technology offerings, GFC and ASI are culturally very similar. GFC has been family-owned for 63 years while ASI has been an employee-owned, independent dealer for 62 years. Both are committed to quality customer service and have experienced staff with an average tenure of 12-plus years. Both organizations are committed to charitable giving in the communities they serve.
“This strategic partnership presents a unique opportunity for both organizations, and after several months of discussions, we’re really excited to see this come to fruition,” says Patrick Flesch, president of GFC. “The similarities between our two companies are amazing, which is why we are convinced this will be a great strategic and cultural fit, offering a unique and exciting opportunity for both organizations to grow.”
“ASI has been proud to serve customers across Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota for more than sixty years,” says Troy Love, president and CEO of ASI. “GFC will deliver additional size, depth of experience and technology solutions for our customers, while retaining the Midwestern values and commitment to customer service our business clients are accustomed to receiving.”
Meanwhile, HP announced the acquisition of Bromium, an end point security start-up. Bromium protects enterprises by using virtualization-based security to isolate browser-based attacks, malicious downloads, email attachments and other applications in unique, hardware-enforced micro-virtual machines.
Bromium technology complements and enhances HP’s existing security platform with hardware enforced application isolation and containment to protect against advanced attacks while providing real-time threat intelligence. Combined with HP solutions including Sure Sense, Sure View and Sure Start, it provides comprehensive protection against the most sophisticated malware and enhances our industry leading firmware and BIOS security layers.
As customers increasingly look for new ways to create, consume and collaborate on their devices, they are also looking for security and privacy. With 1 in 13 web requests leading to malware and 500k+ new malware attacks every day, every device decision is a security decision.
“Security is a key competitive differentiator for HP, providing the most secure PCs and printers on the market,” said Andy Rhodes, GM and Global Head of Commercial Systems at HP. “The acquisition of Bromium extends our investments, leadership and focus in this space and securing end point devices that are on the front lines of defense against cyber security attacks.”
HP currently licenses the Bromium technology and leverages it for its Sure Click solution. Bromium will become part of HP’s broader platform to secure end-point devices.
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About the Gordon Flesch Company
The Gordon Flesch Company is one of the largest family-owned providers of office technology solutions in the nation. Family-owned since 1956, the GFC employs more than 600 people throughout 26 offices in the Midwest, with their corporate office in Madison, Wisconsin.
About Advanced Systems Inc.
Advanced Systems Inc. is an independent dealer in the office technology industry. The independent office equipment and technology dealer is headquartered in Cedar Falls, Iowa with offices in Minnesota and South Dakota.
About HP Inc.
HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our product and service portfolio of personal systems, printers
