In a transaction worth R12 million, Laser Facilities, a Bytes Document Solutions company, has captured the lion`s share of the document output management market in KwaZulu-Natal by acquiring Nicor Output Processing, a division of Nicor Holdings.
This BEE business, led by Mac Moodley, will be integrated into Laser Facilities and will report to Konni Hoferichter, GM of Laser Facilities, says Rob Abraham, executive director of Bytes Technology Group.
Nicor Output Processing has been one of only two electronic printing bureaus servicing customers in KwaZulu-Natal. Operating since 1985, it employs 25 people full-time and 25 people part-time.
Already one of the largest electronic print bureaus in the country, Laser Facilities will introduce new services to the KwaZulu-Natal market such as electronic document distribution, database cleanup and on-demand production publishing to organisations which have large customer databases to which they send marketing communications and statements or to produce training documentation.
"While Nicor Output Processing will be rebranded as Laser Facilities KZN, its existing infrastructure, technology and staff will remain in place," says Owen Hackner, CEO of Nicor Holdings. "This acquisition not only gives Laser Facilities the opportunity to entrench its position in the market in KwaZulu-Natal, it also enables us to focus our attention on our core business of IT outsourcing in the property and financial sectors."
Nicor has many hi-tech laser printers and intelligent mailing and sorting machines, to which Laser Facilities will add its customised electronic document and output management software, providing print and mail services to blue-chip companies in every sector of the economy and local government.
"We specialise in printing statements, payslips, management reports, transaction reports and personalised customer communication," says Konni Hoferichter, GM of Document Services Division at Laser Facilities. "We are a one-stop shop that manages the total process from procuring pre-printed stationery to bulk laser printing and posting of the completed item. With the acquisition of Nicor, we now lead the market in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal."
As a division of Bytes Document Solutions, Laser Facilities employs 145 people in its Gauteng office. Its core business is bulk, time-critical, variable data printing, such as the printing and distribution of voter rolls, exam papers and price lists.
Value-added services include procurement and stock management of pre-printed stationery, custom programming, fully automated mailing, hand mailing for non-standard mail, digitisation, data interrogation, return mail management, postal code and address verification, electronic bill presentation, and electronic file archiving and viewing.
"Organisations don`t have to invest in expensive machinery to print or mail their large volumes of documents and perform true customer relationship management," Hoferichter says.
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