American storage giant Iron Mountain has announced two Australian acquisitions in the one week, beginning with records storage firm The Document Centre (TDC) in Launceston for an undisclosed sum and following up with the $2.5 billion buyout of multinational Recall Holdings.

“Acquisitions are a key component of Iron Mountain’s strategic focus to sustain the durability of its business in high-return, developed markets and to establish market leadership in high-growth emerging markets,” said Greg Lever, managing director of Iron Mountain Australia.

Iron Mountain and Recall both compete largely in the same space with document management accounting for 75% and 76% of their businesses, respectively. Geographically, Recall does approximately 42% of its business in the US.

Recall reportedly controls 40 per cent of the Australian market with number two Iron Mountain having around 13 per cent and third-placed Grace with around 10 per cent.     

Transitioning from file and tape storage and retrieval for the corporate and government markets, each has adopted a different platform for hosted digital EDRMS solutions in Australia.

Recall has partnered with Hyland for its Review platform which utilises Hyland OnBase. Iron Mountain Connect powered by ELO is that company’s offering hosted in Iron Mountain's Australian data centres.                                   

Recall Holdings has recommended shareholders accept the takeover offer for the company, which was spun out from parent Brambles in December 2013.

Recall chief executive Doug Pertz said the combined company expected to be able to cut costs significantly over the next two years, and the share-based deal would allow shareholders to benefit from the expected improvement in earnings.

"The combination of Recall and Iron Mountain makes strong commercial sense and offers the potential to create significant value for both sets of shareholders," he said.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval in both Australian and the US, as well as a vote of Recall shareholders.

Meanwhile, The Document Centre (TDC) in Tasmania has also been absorbed into the Iron Mountain monolith.

“TDC is a strong, privately owned business that delivers trusted and dependable services to organisations in Tasmania,” said Edward Hayes-Newington, Iron Mountain’s state manager in Tasmania.

“TDC succeeded in building a strong customer base, on the back of their service reputation. Iron Mountain will continue to provide secure, attentive storage services and expert advice. The acquisition bolsters Iron Mountain’s position as a leading records management company in Tasmania”

 “The acquisition of TDC aligns with our objective for growing our presence in Australia,” said Greg Lever.