insideKENT Magazine Issue 43 - October 2015 | Page 149

MAIDSTONE COMPANY BECOMES LARGEST IN EUROPE Law firm Cripps has advised on a deal which will see Maidstone-headquartered Balreed become part of Europe’s largest independent provider of managed services for print, document and process technology. The company, which also operates from offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Wakefield, Newcastle, Haywards Heath and Manchester, has merged with Apogee Corporation and group run-rate turnover is set to exceed £150m. Phil Cunningham, Partner at Cripps Balreed was advised throughout the merger process by a team of lawyers from Cripps, led by partner Philip Cunningham, who commented: “The transaction proceeded smoothly and was completed in a quite a short time frame for such a large value deal which required a considerable effort from all involved.” Balreed’s founder and MD Robin Stanton-Gleaves joins the Apogee board as joint chief executive alongside Jason Collins and other Apogee board members in the expanded group. Balreed’s Gary Downey joins as group marketing director. “The two organisations share many values and a commitment to delivering excellent service and the merger is a significant development in our growth plans,” said Robin. “The whole process ran smoothly and we were delighted with the advice and support we were given by Cripps.” Cripps has offices in Tunbridge Wells, Kings Hill, London and Sandwich. For more information, visit www.cripps.co.uk. www.balreed.com Don’t risk being spooked by your tax bill... call 01233 630000 to book an appointment with one of our tax experts 149