October 16, 2006 - London - BLI International UK Ltd, the international arm of Buyers Laboratory Inc, has signed an agreement to acquire the laboratory testing business of Winmark Europe (Winmark Labs). The acquisition strengthens BLI's position as the leading independent office-equipment testing lab and significantly expands its operations in Europe.
Based in London, England, Winmark Labs offers a broad range of private and custom testing of office imaging equipment, providing valuable, independent technical performance and cost comparisons of similar printer/copier products, from entry level desktop printers to multifunctional digital devices. The company works with manufacturers to ensure each product is tested in operational environments allowing for the design of product specific test protocols. Winmark started product testing in 1997 and initially specialised in total cost of ownership and quality tests but now offers not only performance tests but also the most sophisticated environmental tests and rigorous software evaluations. Equipment tested to date includes devices from Canon, HP, Kyocera Mita, Konica Minolta, Xerox, Lexmark, Samsung, Toshiba, Ricoh and Sharp. Results of these tests have been used in marketing literature, software tools, PR campaigns and in clients internal training programs, product development and engineering efforts.
“This acquisition will provide Winmark customers with access to a much broader range of information services and products, including a much fuller range of laboratory testing services leveraging BLI's robust history of lab testing data and procedures”, commented Michael Danziger, CEO of Buyers Laboratory.
“This is a significant step to expand BLI's operations in Europe and demonstrates our deep commitment to the European market and the needs of our clients.”, added John Donnelly, Managing Director of BLI International, ”We are pleased to be able to work with Winmark on this transaction and believe that ultimately it will be our mutual clients that benefit the most.”
John Jeffcock, Managing Director of Winmark, Ltd., added “Winmark made a strategic decision to focus on our highly successful market research consultancy business and related areas. We are delighted that a firm as well respected globally as Buyers Laboratory will be carrying on the Winmark Test Lab tradition of excellence and look forward to partnering with BLI in the years to come for the benefit of our common customers.”
BLI will shortly announce a new office location for the combined operations.
About Buyers Laboratory
For 47 years, Buyers Lab has been the leading independent office-equipment testing lab and business consumer advocate. In addition to publishing the industry's most comprehensive and accurate test reports on office document imaging devices, each representing months of exhaustive hands-on testing in BLI's US and UK laboratories, the company has been the leading source for extensive databases of specifications and pricing on copiers, printers, fax machines and multifunctional products. The company's databases cover 10,000 products and have a long-standing reputation for being the industry's most trustworthy and complete source for global competitive intelligence. They are available to BLI subscribers online via the company's bliQ competitive information service. This encyclopedic resource also provides quick and easy access to BLI's First Look Reports, Field Test Reports, Lab Test Reports, Solutions Reports, and BLI-produced articles.
In addition to the testing of office equipment for its subscribers, Buyers Lab provides consulting services to buyers and a vast array of confidential for-hire private testing services that include document imaging device beta and pre-launch testing, performance certification testing, consumables testing (such as toner, ink and photoconductors), software and solutions and print media testing (including virgin and recycled papers).
For more information on Buyers Laboratory, please visit www.buyerslab.com, call (201) 488-0404 or e-mail info@buyerslab.com.
