Ricoh Builds on Investment; Inks Deal to Acquire Avanti

On Jan. 18, 2017, Ricoh announced that it would build on a 2013 strategic investment and acquire Avanti Computer Systems for an undisclosed sum. Avanti, a provider of print management information systems (MIS), will further expand Ricoh's production print workflow options for customers, and it will improve management efficiency and productivity, according to a press release.

In 2013, Ricoh made the strategic multimillion dollar investment in Avanti to pair Ricoh products with Avanti's suite of MIS tools. In a 2013 conference call with Mark Michelson, editor-in-chief of Printing Impressions, Ricoh and Avanti explained,

Ricoh was especially drawn to Avanti’s open platform, modular architecture. And, coupled with Ricoh’s previous investment in PTI Marketing Technologies (a Web-to-print and marketing personalization solutions provider), it will enable Ricoh to provide customers with a fully integrated and automated, end-to-end solution. Ricoh’s global customer and sales coverage will also enable Avanti to expand its MIS customer base worldwide.

After the 2013 investment though, Avanti's three majority stakeholders at the time still maintained majority ownership.

Of this most recent acquisition, Avanti President Patrick Bolan, said in the press release:

Ricoh’s initial strategic investment in Avanti three years ago gave us an unparalleled opportunity to advance product development and further deliver innovative MIS solutions. The acquisition by Ricoh sets the stage for Avanti to accelerate growth into the global marketplace.

Cloud-based solutions have begun to pick up steam as printers realize the benefits it can provide, such as disaster recovery, flexibility, cost, accessibility, security and competitive speed in upgrading technology.

A conference call is planned for the afternoon of Jan. 18, 2017.

To read the full press release, click here.

Ricoh also announced today the launch of its latest innovation in mail distribution, Ricoh Intelligent Delivery Services. Click here to read more.