Central Pennsylvania's largest office-furniture dealer has been acquired by two members of its senior management team.
Phillips Workplace Interiors, part of Lower Swatara Township-based Phillips Office Solutions, has been sold to longtime employee Hope Roadcap, the company's president, and Michael Bistline, the company's vice president.
Roadcap and Bistline bought the division from brothers Peter and David Phillips, who are retiring and looking to sell some assets.
Hope Roadcap, left, and Michael Bistline are the new owners of Phillips Workplace Interiors in Lower Swatara Township.
"We've been doing this for 34 years," said Peter Phillips, the company's president and CEO. "This was a good time to move on. We don't have children coming up in the business."
Retirement has been looming for a few years, he added. "In a sense, we've been grooming (Hope and Michael) for this day. They will do a very good job."
Terms of the deal, which was announced to staff on Monday, were not disclosed. Officials declined further comment on the future of the document management division at Phillips Office Solutions.
Meanwhile, St. Cloud-based Marco said Tuesday it has purchased Phillips Office Solutions, based in Lower Swatara Township, for an undisclosed sum. The deal closed on Monday.
Marco, founded in 1973 as a small typewriter company before expanding throughout the Upper Midwest, has 61 offices and expects to do more than $400 million in revenue this year. Phillips Office Solutions, Marco's largest acquisition to date, will do about $38 million this year.
The plan is for Phillips to serve as the East Coast hub for Marco, Gau said. Marco is retaining the entire Phillips workforce — 140 people — and promoting Phillips President Bill Shuey to regional president of copier and ECM solutions. ECM stands for enterprise content management.
Phillips Workplace Interiors, a Steelcase dealer, specializes in the corporate, education and health care markets. It will retain its 23 employees, but the new owners are looking to move the business from Lower Swatara to a larger showroom facility in the Harrisburg area. Bistline said he expects the workforce could grow with the move.
"We anticipate 10 percent growth, so maybe two or three people," he said.
Phillips Office Solutions finished 2017 with $52.7 million in total revenue, according to Business Journal records. That includes the office-furniture revenue.
Phillips Office Solutions serves all of Central Pennsylvania, with a territory extending south to the Maryland line and north of Williamsport toward the New York border.