Aleyant Acquisition Case Study
Salzman was looking for access to capital and resources from a knowledgeable, trustworthy acquirer, to increase his liquidity and business growth without increasing his risk.
Founded in 2005 as an LLC, Aleyant Systems provides web-to-print, estimating, production, and prepress automation workflow software for graphics and commercial print professionals.
Aleyant’s solutions are deployed in 43 countries with over 690 customer implementations across North America, Europe and Asia. Aleyant’s partners include Canon Solutions of America, HP, Fujifilm, and Fuji Xerox.
Aleyant’s founder, Greg Salzman, started the company as he saw tremendous growth potential in developing e-commerce printing solutions. Salzman took his industry knowledge and founded Aleyant with an initial investment of about $1000.
In just over a decade since its founding, Aleyant has grown to be a market leader in its industry. The company has diversified its product offering, entered into various strategic partnerships, and expanded across the globe. Lumine Group is enabling Aleyant to continue to grow and prosper through financial stability, knowledge sharing, and management best practice. The decision to sell was made with the best interests of Aleyant’s customers and staff in mind.
Salzman was interested in continuing to operate his business. He knew the market and had developed close relationships with his customers and staff. He wanted to be there to see his company continue to grow, but he began to feel that he was taking on too much of a financial burden.
Salzman wanted to de-risk and monetize the hard work he had put into Aleyant over the years. He saw the acquisition as an opportunity to increase his liquidity without increasing his risk.
“I wasn’t interested in a buyer that just wanted my revenue and customer count. If that were my only option, I wouldn’t have sold Aleyant.”
– GREG SALZMAN, Founder, Aleyant
After spending over a decade building up Aleyant's reputation in the industry, Salzman wasn't interested in watching his company dissolve in front of his eyes. For this reason, Lumine Group's buy-and-hold forever strategy was attractive to him.
By joining Lumine, Aleyant would have access to capital for organic investment to strengthen its market position. Lumine also provides access to best practices gathered from hundreds of acquisitions to provide. This was the liquidity Aleyant needed to grow to its full potential.
Lumine offers professional development opportunities for all levels of the organization including management, departmental leadership, and employees. Salzman appreciated that Lumine encourages existing leadership of the companies they purchase to remain and grow within the organization.
As Aleyant begins its integration into Lumine Group, Salzman is able to comment on the early-stage support he’s received from Lumine leadership. One thing he immediately appreciated was Lumin’s culture of knowledge sharing. Salzman is glad to have a set of benchmarking tools that help him understand the business better. “Having a disciplined approach to benchmarking has been illuminating,” he explained. “It’s been helpful to look at the metrics across different departments and see what’s healthy and what’s not.” Lumine’s benchmarking tools have given Salzman good insights into Aleyant’s strengths and challenges.
Salzman and his team have done a great job of solidifying Aleyant’s role as a leading player in the online print software space. Now, as a part of the Lumine Group of companies, Aleyant will continue to do what they do best, but with more financial and operational support. With Aleyant’s industry knowledge and Lumine’s capital, international presence and operational knowledge, the growth potential is virtually limitless. And, just as importantly, Salzman can be confident that Aleyant will be able to take care of its customers over the long term.
Aleyant was acquired by Lumine Group in 2018.
This case study was originally published in 2018.
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