Company type | Privately held company |
---|---|
Industry | Outsourcing, Presentations and Creative Services, Business and Administrative Services, Office Services |
Founded | 1820 |
Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people | Clare Hart, CEO |
Services | High Volume Pitchbooks and Presentations, Secretarial Support, Document and Word Processing, Digital Mail and Mailroom Services, Billing and Collections Support |
Revenue | $772.10 million USD ( 76.20% FY 2005) |
Number of employees | 7,000 |
Parent | Advent International |
Subsidiaries | The Stationery Office |
Website | www |
Williams Lea Group Limited, branded Williams Lea, is a global company that offers business process outsourcing (BPO) to large companies. Founded in 1820 as a company providing printing services to the financial industry, Williams Lea went through a number of changes to its business model and now provides services including presentations and creative services, business and administrative support, and office services.
The German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post bought a majority stake in the company in 2006.
Williams Lea purchased the design and production agency Tag Worldwide in 2011, and adopted the company's name into its own brand.
Deutsche Post sold Williams Lea Tag to Advent International in 2017. Advent International completed its purchase of Williams Lea Tag from Deutsche Post DHL Group. In 2023, Dentsu Group Inc. acquired Tag.
History
Williams Lea was founded in 1820 by John Wertheimer, who opened a printing business in London.
Williams Lea Tag has undergone rapid expansion in recent years due to the rise in corporate outsourcing of support functions. Growth has largely been organic, but it has made several acquisitions:
- In October 2004, it acquired U.S.-based Bowne Business Solutions, a long-term joint venture partner, from Bowne & Co. for $190.8 million.
- In August 2005, it acquired U.S.-based Uniscribe for $36.1 million and Australia-based Creatis for $7.7 million.
- In November 2006, it acquired UK-based The Stationery Office for £130 million.
- In 2007, Deutsche Post rebranded its German service lines document management, transactional print, mailroom services, and direct marketing/fulfillment as Williams Lea Deutschland. These service lines were re-integrated into Deutsche Post in 2010. Currently Williams Lea in Germany offers marketing solutions and presentation services.
- In November 2007, Deutsche Post acquired legal process outsourcing (LPO) company Centric LPO for an undisclosed sum.
- On 12 July 2011 Williams Lea purchased the design and production agency Tag Worldwide for an undisclosed sum.
- On 24 August 2017 Williams Lea Tag was acquired by Advent International, a private equity company and domain name wltadvent.com redirects to wlt.com
- On 30 June 2023 Tag was acquired by Japanese marketing giant Dentsu Group Inc.
References
- "Williams Lea".
- "Deutsche Post buys Williams Lea". BBC News. 13 February 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- "Deutsche Post DHL Group sells Williams Lea Tag to Advent International". DPDHL Group. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- "Dentsu Completes Acquisition of Tag to Grow Creative Production and Customer Transformation and Technology Capabilities". 30 June 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- "History of Williams Lea". Williams Lea. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- "Williams Lea Acquires US-Based Bowne Business Solutions for GBP100m (US$180m)". PR Newswire. October 8, 2004.
- "Company Overview of Uniscribe Professional Services, Inc". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- "Williams Lea". Archived from the original on 2006-10-16. Retrieved 2006-11-11.
- Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback MachineWilliams Lea Tag
- "DHL owner seeks big stake in Williams Lea". Post & Parcel. February 13, 2006.
- "Williams Lea expands legal offering with LPO business". Post & Parcel. November 14, 2007.
- Williams, Matt (12 July 2011). "Production company Tag acquired by Williams Lea". Campaign. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- Nias, Simon (12 July 2011). "Williams Lea to acquire Tag Worldwide". Print Week. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- "Deutsche Post sells British unit Williams Lea to Advent". August 24, 2017 – via www.reuters.com.
- "Dentsu Completes Acquisition of Tag". 30 June 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.