Fuji Xerox acquires Aussie Upstream

Japanese printing giant Fuji Xerox has bought Australian managed printing services company Upstream Print Solutions for an undisclosed sum.

Neil Tilley, co-founder of Upstream Print Solutions.(Credit: Upstream Print Solutions)

Upstream was founded by Australians Neil Tilley (right) and Gordon Hoen in 1995.

In a joint statement revealing the buyout this afternoon, the pair said that Upstream would operate as an autonomous subsidiary of Fuji Xerox Australia (FXA) and would continue to focus on managed print solutions in the small to medium business market.

"Upstream has a unique business model and offers a good strategic fit which complements our business. We aim to maintain the value of Upstream's brand and customer base using their current go-to-market model," said Fuji Xerox's local chief Nick Kugenthiran.

For his own part, Tilley said the deal meant Upstream customers would continue to get the same service from the same team, but with the additional backing and support of "a large and proven business partner" in Fuji Xerox Australia.

Fuji Xerox said that it would not disclose financial details of the acquisition, and did not disclose local revenue or profit figures in general.

In terms of Upstream's ongoing operations, the intention is to "maintain business as usual", according to Fuji Xerox. Upstream's management team will be accountable to Andy Berry, general manager of Fuji Xerox Australia's Integrated Sales and Marketing Division. Tilley will report directly to Berry, while the Upstream board is to be made up of Fuji Xerox's local directors: Berry, Kugenthiran and Phil Barter.

Co-founder Hoen will retire from Upstream, but most other things will remain the same.

"There will be minimal change to the way either FXA or Upstream conducts business. Upstream will operate their go-to-market autonomously," said Fuji Xerox, noting that it had a history of what it described as "successful acquisitions" — the Triangle distribution business in 2010 and the business process outsourcing division of Kaz in 2007 — with "a proven track record of employee satisfaction, customer retention and conflict resolution".

"Both FXA and Upstream employees are assured stability and there will be no changes in day-to-day working environments," Fuji said. "Most staff will remain at their current physical locations, as well as reporting to the same management teams."

The Japanese giant added that it anticipated making very few product or service changes that would impact current service delivery.