INM's print distribution wing has bought a well-known school supplies firm
Newspread’s acquisition of Supreme Stationery was cleared by the competition watchdog.
THE COMPETITION WATCHDOG has given the green light for an Independent News and Media (INM) subsidiary to take ownership of a well-known stationary outfit.
Newspread, a wholesaler and distributor of newspapers and magazines, has acquired Dublin-based Hegadon Ltd, which trades as Supreme Stationary, for an undisclosed sum.
The deal was cleared earlier this week by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Supreme has been in operation for more than 15 years and provides stationary to retailers, bookshops, school suppliers and wholesalers. The company’s founder and CEO, Sean McDonough, will stay on at the business.
According to its most recent set of accounts, Supreme declared a profit of more than €700,000 in the 12 months to the end of September 2016, pushing accumulated profits to more than €4.6 million.
INM chief executive Michael Doorly said the acquisition will complement Newspread’s current offering.
“In the face of a continuing challenging environment for print and circulation in newspapers, INM is looking to achieve additional growth through its distribution business,” he said.
He described Supreme as “a very successful business with a great legacy”.
Diversifying
The deal marks part of Newspread’s strategy to diversify its business. Earlier this year the company’s chief executive Ian Keogh told Fora that it wants a quarter of its operating profits to be generated from outside of work with newspapers and magazines by 2018.
Founded in the 1970s, Newspread provides newspaper and magazine deliveries to 6,000 retailers every day and has been recording strong growth as it looks to diversify its business.
It was appointed the exclusive wholesale distributor of books to Tesco Ireland in 2016.
Newspread helped INM boost its overall distribution and commercial printing revenue by €13.2 million to €148.6 million in 2016.
