Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-headquartered ePS’ deal to acquire Lancashire-based Tharstern was completed on Friday (24 March).

ePS said the deal would further solidify its position in the small and midsized (SMB) print segment while continuing to drive geographical diversification of the business and adding new technologies to its portfolio.

Tharstern employs 52 staff – all of whom will be kept on as part of the deal – and has more than 600 customers, primarily in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, as well as in the US, Australia, and South Africa.

“We are excited to welcome Tharstern’s customers and talented employees to the ePS family,” said Gaby Matsliach, CEO of ePS.

“We will continue to support Tharstern’s existing customers with the same enthusiasm they have come to expect, and we look forward to providing them with additional value by leveraging ePS’ global presence, industry knowhow, and rich product portfolio.”

Speaking to Printweek this afternoon (27 March), ePS vice president, corporate development and strategy Guy Amos said: “Going back to when we went independent [from EFI] following the acquisition by Symphony Technology Group [in December 2021], we did communicate our strategy to make a strong independent ePS, and that involved investing internally as well as expanding our outreach and expanding through M&A.

“Tharstern was at the top of the list, and so we were very happy to hear that there was interest on Tharstern’s side, and both of us saw an opportunity to combine forces.

“Two great teams with a lot of history and activity in the market, it’s a small industry and people know each other so we knew with Tharstern we would be embracing a team of exceptional, very highly regarded professionals, so we’re very happy that this opportunity presented itself.”

Tharstern’s team will help ePS to advance its cloud offering, growth strategy, and driving expanded customer value.

Tharstern CEO Keith McMurtrie led an MBO at the business in 2014 that was backed by private equity house Mobeus Equity Partners with a combined debt and equity package.

Tharstern will now come under the Print ePS division of ePS’ product portfolio and McMurtrie, who will continue to oversee its day-to-day running, said the company was “very excited” to join ePS and confident of the additional value joining the business would bring to its customers.

“ePS has the technology, solutions, and global reach to enable continued growth and success across the Tharstern customer base for years to come,” he commented.

Speaking to Printweek this afternoon, he added that the move wasn’t driven by Mobeus, but by Tharstern’s desire to move the business forward.

“For us, the deal made absolute sense because you can see the importance that MIS is playing within the industry. It’s really grown and has its own real energy; it sits at the epicentre of most organisations now, it’s not just this thing that people would use as a calculator off to the side, it’s pivotal.

“MIS is a global business now so for Tharstern to have that global reach it needs a global platform to do that. And ePS, with their connections and worldwide presence, allows you to get the skills and knowledge that we’ve got, and the products and customer base, and take that to a new level.

“Business workflow is critical – it has to work and it has to run, and therefore you need a robust organisation to ensure that type of product is developed and maintained, and that the support infrastructure is in place.”

He added: “I’m extremely happy that we’ve gone to a like-minded organisation that shares the same passion for the industry, and the product sector that we’re in. How we make that next big step has been on our minds for a long time, because we don’t want to disappear, we want to be around, and that drove our decision that now was the right time.”

Currently based in Colne, Tharstern is relocating on 1 May to a new office in nearby Burnley, in an unrelated move aligned to the company’s changing working practices since the pandemic, with fewer people now working in the office.

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

In January ePS held its revamped Connect user conference and industry event in Las Vegas, which was well received by exhibiting partners and attendees alike.