7 February 2020

Midwich Group Plc

(“Midwich” or “the Group”)

Acquisition of Starin Marketing Inc.

Midwich, a specialist audio visual (“AV”) distributor to the trade market with operations across the UK and Ireland, Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific, is pleased to announce it has acquired 100% of the share capital of Starin Marketing Inc. (“Starin” or “the Company”), a US-based, specialist value-added distributor of AV products.

Starin, headquartered in Chesterton, Indiana, was founded in 1988 and generated revenues of over $200m in the last financial year.  It is currently led by the senior management team of Bill Mullin (CEO), Bill Pak (COO) and Bobby Swartz (President), all of whom will remain with the business and continue to drive Starin’s growth strategy.

The business has a particularly strong heritage in the unified communications (“UC”) market, and works with leading brands, such as Barco, Poly and DTEN.  The Company has also pioneered the ZoomRooms ‘Outfitting’ model, allowing it to support Certified Zoom Integrators with a complete eco-system of hardware components which are optimized to work with Zoom’s video conferencing software. 

In addition to the Company’s UC market product offering, the business provides a range of specialist AV technology solutions to US customers.  It supports customers with video and technical video solutions, representing major brands such as LG, Vivitek and Advanced Network Devices.  The Company also has a strong presence in the professional and consumer audio market through its relationship with Mus!c Tribe. 

The Company’s value add market approach has been the primary driver behind its development.  The business was the original pioneer of launching Barco Clickshare in the US market and is renowned for its technical expertise, providing regular customer solution and product training.  These value-add services will continue to be a key focus for Starin.  With Midwich’s backing the business will look to further strengthen the specialist support it can provide to its customers and vendor partners. 

Stephen Fenby, the Midwich Group Managing Director, commented:

“We are delighted that the Starin team has chosen to join the Midwich Group and we are very excited at the prospect of working with them on Midwich’s first investment in the world’s largest AV market.  The partnership will allow us to broaden our support to international customers, and further strengthen our relationship with current and new Group vendors.  This acquisition also adds to the Group’s UC capabilities, providing additional expertise in a strategically important market”

Bill Mullin, CEO of Starin commented:

“When the opportunity arose to join Midwich, we were particularly excited about joining a business providing genuine specialist, value-add distribution to the channel. It is clear from the time that we have spent with the team that Midwich is a great fit for Starin and will support taking us to the next level. In addition, Midwich’s exisiting global infrastructure provides us with the perfect opportunity to facilitate some of the exciting projects we are already working on.”

Enquiries:

Midwich Group plc Stephen Fenby, Managing Director Stephen Lamb, Finance Director	Tel: +44 (0) 1379 649 200
Investec Bank plc James Rudd Carlton Nelson	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7597 5970
FTI Consulting Alex Beagley Tom Hufton Fern Duncan	Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000

Note to editors

Midwich is a specialist AV distributor to the trade market, with operations in the UK and Ireland, Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Group's long-standing relationships with over 400 vendors, including blue-chip organisations, support a comprehensive product portfolio across major audio visual categories such as large format displays, projectors, digital signage and professional audio. The Group operates as the sole or largest in-country distributor for a number of its vendors in their respective product sets.

The Directors attribute this position to the Group's technical expertise, extensive product knowledge and strong customer service offering built up over a number of years. The Group has a large and diverse base of approximately 16,000 customers, most of which are professional AV integrators and IT resellers serving sectors such as corporate, education, retail, residential and hospitality. Although the Group does not sell directly to end users, it believes that the majority of its products are used by commercial and educational establishments rather than consumers.

Initially a UK only distributor, the Group now has over 900 employees across the UK and Ireland, Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific. A core component of the Group's growth strategy is further expansion of its international operations and footprint into strategically targeted jurisdictions.

For further information, please visit www.midwichgroupplc.com