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Datalink Electronics is on course to achieve annual sales of GBP 9 million by 2006 following its acquisition of Quasson.
Datalink purchased Quasson, which makes the famous Autocue prompting devices and broadcast software, from Autocue itself.
Investment has already been made in software, machinery, training and refurbishment at Quasson's Andover manufacturing facility expanding the product capability.
'We have been improving quality and putting more competitive pricing in place for the past six months at Quasson, and the company already looks very different', said Datalink Director Ian Wilson.
The acquisition almost doubled the size of Datalink, instantly creating a GBP 5 million turnover company, and Wilson said the new group could achieve sales of GBP 8 million or GBP 9 million within 18 months to two years by organic growth and further acquisitions.
Eric Luckwell, the Managing Director, predicted increased sales would come largely from growth in the company's design capability and said the group would be looking for an acquisition in this area.
'A lot of the larger scale manufacturing has left the UK but the design work has not left, and we are interested in picking up the design skills that some of the bigger companies have left behind in the UK', he said.
Design demand was being driven by growth in the market, he said.
To reinforce the changing face of the new company, Datalink has created an updated brand identity for Quasson under a new Datalink Group umbrella.
'The market is reasonably buoyant'.
'At least for the next year, we can continue to look forward to continued growth in our core business', said Wilson.
The geographic implications of buying Andover-based Quasson were important to Datalink, which wanted to establish a presence in the UK silicon valley along the M4 corridor.
'Being there has already brought us two new customers for design and manufacturing', said Wilson.
'The reason they came to us was because we were local'.
'Location remains important in most cases'.
He outlined Datalink's target profile for its next acquisition: 'We are in the market for smaller companies where they have a reasonably good customer base where the present management are struggling or where an owner manager is looking for an exit'.
'We can add management expertise and money to revitalise those companies'.
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