Acquisition of AV Partner AS

Midwich Group, 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 the entire issued share capital of AV Partner AS (“AV Partner” or “the Company”), a Norwegian value-added distributor of AV products.

Based in Oslo, the Company was founded in 2010 by Tore Moe, with Arne Norum joining as Chairman in 2014. Both will continue to lead the business as part of the Group, alongside Managing Director Olav Frank Dallas.

AV Partner is a specialist AV distributor, with a market leading position in the Norwegian projection market, where it operates with key brands including Epson, Optoma, Casio and Hitachi.  More recently, the Company has built a growing displays business through exclusive distribution of Vestel and has also moved into new enlarged premises with dedicated warehousing and demo facilities.

The acquisition of AV Partner marks Midwich Group's entry into Norway and the wider Nordic region, a territory the Group has identified as important in its international expansion, increasing its coverage of the European AV market. It also marks the third new country of 2019 for Midwich after the January acquisitions of Prase in Italy and MobilePro in Switzerland.

Stephen Fenby, the Midwich Group Managing Director, commented:

“The acquisition of AV Partner represents Midwich’s first step into the Nordic region, enabling the Group to access a large number of new customers in a significant AV market.  We were impressed by the vision Arne, Tore and Olav share to grow the business as part of the Midwich Group and we look forward to beginning work with our new colleagues”.

Olav Frank Dallas, Managing Director of AV Partner commented:

“We are excited about the opportunity of joining the Midwich Group and believe it is the ideal partner to help grow AV Partner. We were especially interested in Midwich’s track record of working with specialist AV business, and believe Midwich’s global relationships and AV Partner’s knowledge and experience in the local market will be a successful combination”.

 Enquiries:

Midwich Group plc

Stephen Fenby, Managing Director

Stephen Lamb, Finance Director

 Tel: +44 (0) 1379 649 200

Investec Bank plc (NOMAD and joint broker)

James Rudd

Carlton Nelson

Berenberg (Joint Broker to Midwich)

Ben Wright

Mark Whitmore

Laure Fine

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7597 5970

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3207 7800

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 17,000 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