Williams Lea, the Deutsche Post mail services subsidiary, has sealed a deal to buy Britain’s TheStationery Office Ltd (TSO), publisher of countless official documents and publications, for an
undisclosed price. The transaction will make Williams Lea into Britain’s largest publisher.UK-based Williams Lea will buy TSO from private equity company Apax Partners which had boughtthe 200-year-old organisation from the British government in a privatisation measure in 1996. Thedeal is expected to complete within eight weeks, subject to satisfactory competition clearance.
The Stationery Office Ltd, with some 600 staff, generated turnover of GBP 70 million in 2005.It is Britain’s largest publisher by output, publishing 15,000 printed and electronic products eachyear for clients including the UK Government, Parliament and Assemblies, and the Office of PublicSector Information (formerly HMSO). The TSO brand will be retained and the business will become thePublic Sector division of Williams Lea, under its current CEO Richard Dell.
Williams Lea, which had turnover of GBP 438 million in 2005, said that the acquisition of TSOgives it a strong position in the rapidly expanding market of public sector Business ProcessOutsourcing, which is forecast to grow at 23.5% CAGR to GBP 1.3 billion by 2008.
With 7,000 staff across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific, Tim Griffiths, Chief Executive ofWilliams Lea, commented: “We strongly believe that TSO’s clients will benefit from today’s news andthe combined businesses will be well positioned to generate further growth opportunities. Our focusremains on outstanding delivery and building on the long term partnerships that TSO has establishedwith its clients.”
