Spend management and marketing specialist Paperhat Group has announced the acquisition of Manchester business CTI Digital.

The move is designed to add specific digital expertise to Paperhat’s service offering via the digital agency ­– that counts Londong Gatwick and the BBC among its clients.

Paperhat Group was established in 1995 and has been a big player the in the print management space for 15 years; now operating in 23 countries worldwide. In 2010 it entered into a joint venture with the Gutenberg network. The subsequent enterprise grew to a workforce of 1,260 and a turnover in excess of $800 million.

In the past three years the group has acquired marketing specialists Consorcio Group and Grebot Donnelly Associates, as well as creative design agency Reputation by Design.

Paperhat Group CEO Tim Peppiatt said the acquisiton of CTI Digital will “expand our digital proposition globally” as the two companies have client rosters that “sit well” together.

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“Our ambitions for Paperhat are well documented, however this is not part of a drive just to be bigger, we want to ensure our service proposition is exemplary too,” he added. “Paperhat is known for its unique ability to benchmark, execute and deliver, all of which gives clients significantly improved marketing efficiencies. Consequently any company joining us must fit in terms of business skills but their management has to share our corporate vision too.”

CTI digital chief executive Nick Rhind added that the company has picked up global clients over the past few years as part of a “massive growth curve”.

“Paperhat Group’s proposition was extremely strong as it enabled us to continue to scale and service our clients and keep improving on the digital services we’re providing,” he said. “Their management team has the same mindset as ours when it comes to working collaboratively with clients and they also have similar ambitions to us.

“We have worked with Paperhat Group and their clients during the acquisition process and over a six month period I have become ever more convinced that this deal is a great natural progression for us.”