Have any of you considered what company exactly could be...

Have any of you considered what company exactly could be acquired, and at what cost? There can't be that many to chose from in the Australian market. Additionally, what profile would be the best fit? Flattening sales is one thing, but if that's only to appease investors that can't see beyond 6 months it is perhaps a questionable strategy.

My little company has done fairly well offering a one stop shop for pretty much anything in the smaller requirements of engineering supply. We have excellent relations and discounts with most suppliers of product in this area, and so do well by being a one phone call and your problems will go away company. Even the likes of QANTAS here in Western Australia will hop on the phone to us to source and supply things that would take them a lot of time and research to do themselves. As we keep our margins modest, and our supplier discounts are high we can often deliver for a similar price to that QANTAS would pay for their lower use items themselves. This is a nice bolt on for a company such as Paragon, providing they are already doing business with both the supplier and the customer. It is surprising how comforting it is to have a supplier who you can call on for almost anything. Granted, every trade isn't that profitable, but over the course of a year it adds considerably to your bottom line, and the customer learns to be dependent on you for all their problems. Further, you gain a lot of kudos for doing this, which allows you to be a little less competitive in your core business.

I pretty much never say, no we can't/don't do that to anyone who calls, even if it just means I put them in touch with someone who can help. Given Paragons attempts to consolidate a fragmented industry, this makes a lot of sense to me. Sometimes acquisitions aren't even necessary, just good relationships.