Konica Minolta Buys Solution Provider Hughes-Calihan

Printer vendor Konica Minolta Business Solutions, the Ramsey, N.J.-based unit of imaging giant Konica Minolta, announced the acquisition of Hughes-Calihan, a Phoenix-based solution provider, for an undisclosed sum. Konica Minolta, whose competitors include Xerox and Canon, hopes the deal will allow the company to expand in the fast-growing southwest U.S. market.

"Ever since Konica and Minolta merged back in 2003 we've been on a fairly aggressive growth path," says Jeff Fernandez, EVP of direct sales and administration for Konica Minolta. "Hughes-Calihan's base in the southwest, one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, makes it a strategic marketplace." All 250 Hughes Calihan employees will retain their positions at the company, which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta.

Fernandez says it is the quality of Hughes-Calihan's people and their reputation for quality services that made the company and attractive acquisition. Additionally, Hughes-Calihan serves Arizona, Nevada and California's Imperial Valley.

"They're second-to-none in quality and customer service in a very strategic growth market," says Fernandez. He says Konica Minolta's drive to increase market share was the number one driver behind this acquisition.

"There's nothing unique about their business model," he says. "It fits the business model Konica Minolta wants to enforce going forward." Hughes-Calihan provides more to the market than just reselling copiers, Fernandez says. "They're capable of supporting the solutions all dealers are migrating towards," he says, pointing out the company's networking capabilities and ability to offer a full slate of solutions.

In recent years vendors have found it increasingly valuable to acquire solution providers whose slate of services compliment the vendor's products. Hughes-Calihan, which has resold Konica Minolta products since 1993, would seem to fit the bill.

"They've embraced solutions technologies of the future," he says of Hughes-Calihan, which he describes as one of the more cutting-edge dealers in the marketplace. "Those are the companies you want to move forward with."

When asked if the new acquisition could lead to Konica Minolta competing for business against existing channel partners, Fernandez demurred, acknowledging the reality of channel conflict but saying this merger would not be viewed any differently than any other channel conflict elsewhere in the country.

"We do try to always have a healthy channel policy," he says. "We put forth a lot of effort to reduce channel conflict as much as possible. But there's only so much you can do."

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