29 May 2007

What began as a small digital typesetting business and grew into a significant pre-press and publishing solutions company has now gone global, linking up with a successful British company.

Egan Reid last year launched an innovative new partnership with British-based print and electronic media company, G A Pindar & Son. Over 20 years, Pindar has developed one of the world’s most successful multi-channel publishing software packages, ‘AgilityCMS’ (Content Management System), says Gerard Reid. AgilityCMS is used by catalogue businesses for managing their product information and publishing it in print, on-line and in-store.

Pindar is 170 years old but has grown to its present position as a global print and technology leader on the back of its involvement in the book publishing industry since the 1960s. Andrew Pindar, the current Chairman, says its use of technology took the company down other market paths and it stepped away from the publishing industry, “hoping that one day we would be able to find a way to bring our skills and scale back to the market that launched our growth and prosperity”.

However, that dream required finding like-minded people who were exceptionally skilled in their crafts, he says. “Egan Reid was exactly what we were seeking, and it is the catalyst for our return to the publishing industry.”

Reid says the partnership has been very fruitful. “We were attracted because both Pindar and Egan Reid have business cultures of progress, innovation and risk-taking, of thinking about what customers do and finding new ways to do it, of pushing boundaries and building solutions and of always observing sound business ethics.”

As the two businesses got to know each other, Pindar made an acceptable offer to buy Egan Reid outright and to change its direction completely. Egan Reid, named G A Pindar & Son (NZ) since 1 January, is to be the Pindar worldwide centre of publishing excellence. And Mary Egan and Gerard Reid are heading up a project to develop and market globally the world’s most comprehensive range of publishing services. Additionally, Reid is leading a software development initiative to repackage AgilityCMS as the first true content and workflow management tool offered to the worldwide publishing industry.

“Ideas we have been nurturing for years now have the backing of hundreds of developers, marketers and delivery sites worldwide, courtesy of Pindar,” says Reid. “We can build a strong team of specialists here drawing on all the best talent in the company.”

It marks the start of a long-term investment for Pindar in Australasia, says Pindar. “What first attracted us to New Zealand was boat building. This taught us about New Zealand’s technological competence and the Kiwi can-do attitude. When looking for a Southern Hemisphere business partner, we came straight to New Zealand and after interviewing many companies we chose Egan Reid as the best fit – culturally, technologically and in the way they think about what they do.”

Although Egan Reid started out as a typesetter, it has made a point of pushing the boundaries. Over the years it has added staff and experience in design, graphics, editorial, scanning, print broking and the many other skills necessary to produce books of quality.

Egan Reid is now one of Australasia’s most experienced producers of books and documents. Since 1991 it has managed the production of thousands of publications for more than 100 publishers. It offers a complete package, managing projects from writing the text through to design, typesetting and print broking. The CMS software is a significant new development that should see the company grow even further and faster.

Investment New Zealand has been working with the company and is thrilled with its achievements, Investment Manager Martin Brendling says.

“Not only has Egan Reid attracted the interest of a significant United Kingdom company, but it will now become the Australasian hub for the worldwide group’s innovative publishing technology. New Zealand companies can expand exponentially by joining forces with global companies. And Egan Reid has proved that we can make it with the world’s best.”

For more information, please contact:

martin.brendling@investmentnz.govt.nz

+64 9 354 9044

gerard@eganreid.co.nz

+64 9 378 4100