Based near Venice, the Company was founded in 1993 by Alberto and Ennio Prase, both of whom will continue to lead the business, and will remain on the Board of Directors of the Company.
Prase is a specialist AV distributor and has been working with high-end specialist brands, such as Shure and Biamp. More recently, the Company has successfully added key video brands Epson and LG to its portfolio.
Prase provides solutions for trade customers across all key verticals; including the corporate, retail, education and rental markets amongst others and has an unrivalled reputation in the Italian market. The Company services customers with local account management including technical support for project design, in addition to a substantial local stock offering and product repairs service.
The acquisition of Prase marks Midwich's entry into Italy, a territory the Group has identified as important in its international expansion. In the year ended 31 December 2017, the Company generated revenues in excess of €20 million and has recently been shortlisted for distributor of the year at the upcoming InAVation awards, an award it previously won in 2014.
Stephen Fenby, the Midwich Group Managing Director, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Ennio, Alberto and the rest of the Prase team to the Midwich Group. The Company has a very strong reputation, not only in Italy, but also in the European AV market as a whole. As the market leading professional audio distributor in Italy, Prase has an excellent portfolio of vendor partners and a broad customer base which it services with an extensive range of value add support. This acquisition adds to the Group’s already formidable capability in the European professional and installation audio sectors. We believe that with the acquisition of Prase, Midwich now has a presence in countries representing over 80% of the European AV market.”
Ennio Prase, Managing Director of Prase commented: “When we were approached by the Midwich team, we quickly saw the benefits of being a part of the Group, and were particularly excited about joining a business with a focus on specialist, value-add distribution. Using the expertise and resources of Midwich, this new relationship will allow us to further accelerate Prase’s growth. Alberto and I are delighted to be joining the Midwich Group and are very much looking forward to working with our new colleagues.”