Following the recent acquisition of Vincent Printing, OOHToday.com sat down with part-owner and newly named CEO Beau Wells to dig into the deal and discuss next-steps for the Chattanooga business specializing in large-format printing solutions.
Can you give us a little bit of a background on how this deal came to be, how you found your partners and why you decided to take over an 80-year-old company?
Beau Wells: The previous owners, Doug and Charlie Casey, were the owners since the early 2000s. It really was more of a timing scenario. They wanted to retire, and I’ve been here going on eight years now. So, from a continuity standpoint, it made a lot of sense. And then as far as how we put the group together, it was just a networking function to be quite honest. We knew what the needs were, so we had an understanding of what the capital needed would look like. So various financial companies were consulted and ultimately, we matched up with Future Tech Holding and MLJB holding.
Was it a long process?
BW: Not as long as you would think. I think once we had an understanding of what the deal looked like, we were able to move fairly quickly at the end of the year.
How has the management team changed with the new ownership group?
BW: I’ve moved into the CEO role – I was serving as president prior to that. Our CFO was on staff in our financial department. And Allison Henry was serving as our director of strategy and has moved into the VP of customer engagement role. It made a lot of sense for us to lean into the individuals who possess strong skillsets and had an understanding of the industry and where the company was positioned.
What specific broader opportunities have, or will be created with this new ownership?
BW: I think everything’s on the table. Some are organizational, some are technology-based, some are equipment- and plant-based. And that is a process that we are looking at over the first 90 days.
Specifically, there’s nothing that I can go into in any great detail. I think one of the things that we want to do is lean into and enhance some of our current offerings that we brought to market over the last couple of years. Certainly environmental sustainability is a key initiative for us as we move some of those broader investment opportunities.
Do you have an idea of some of the new vertical markets you might go to for future business?
BW: Well, it’s probably still too early to talk in a solidified sense. But I can tell you that the plan is to broaden some of the verticals that we have adopted over the past year. I think our sports and entertainment division has done a nice job of progressing in 2021. And the plan is to continue that expansion in 2022. And then, the other areas are with products like our EnhanceAir, powered by Pureti. We see a tremendous opportunity for brands who truly are committed to a sustainability initiative, who are also aware of the global warming aspects that are more prevalent today than they were two years, coming out of a pandemic. So I would say if I could earmark two areas, those would be two.
What are you most excited about with this new era of Vincent Printing?
BW: The pandemic has taught us that things change quickly and our industry is changing quicker now than it ever has before. I think what’s truly required is a sense to be completely open to what those changes are. And when we understand what the difference is going to be, or when we understand a new direction that a client or an industry wants to go, that we’re at the forefront of that. And that we’re leading conversations and being proactive about change. At the end of the day, the takeaway here is we have such a rich history at Vincent Printing. And we completely acknowledged that, and we’re appreciative of that history. And it’s with that in mind that we forge ahead into this new chapter of Vincent.
Comments have been edited and condensed for clarity.
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