ACCO Brands to acquire Trust from Egeria, expanding technology peripherals portfolio

On 14 August 2026, ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ACCO) announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Trust, a Netherlands-based computer and gaming accessories brand, from Egeria, a pan-European private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed, although Trust generates approximately $100 million in annual revenue.

ACCO Brands is a Lake Zurich, Illinois-based consumer products company best known for a stable of legacy office and stationery brands, including AT-A-GLANCE, Five Star, Mead, Swingline and Tilibra, alongside newer technology-accessory brands like Kensington and PowerA. In recent years, ACCO has sought to shift its business away from traditional paper-based product lines, which are in gradual decline, toward faster-growing technology peripherals including computer accessories, gaming controllers and headsets.

Trust fits neatly into that strategy. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in the Netherlands, Trust designs and distributes PC accessories, gaming peripherals, smart home devices, and mobile accessories, including keyboards, mice, headsets, speakers, webcams and chargers. Its products are sold through retailers, e-commerce platforms and business-to-business channels across Europe and Latin America. Notably, Trust does not manufacture its own products, instead outsourcing production while focusing on product design, branding and distribution. This asset-light model gives ACCO an established technology-peripherals business without the manufacturing infrastructure associated with a more vertically integrated acquisition.

The seller, Egeria, is a Netherlands-based private equity firm specialising in mid-sized companies in the Benelux and DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) regions. It manages a portfolio of more than 20 companies with combined revenues of approximately €3 billion and has held a majority stake in Trust since 2018. This transaction thus represents Egeria's exit from an investment it has held for approximately eight years.

This is a straightforward private trade sale: ACCO is acquiring a privately-held business directly from its private equity owner. This differs from a public takeover, where a company acquires shares from public shareholders on a stock exchange, or a scheme of arrangement, which is a more formal court-supervised process used in some jurisdictions (commonly the UK) for public company takeovers. Because Trust is privately owned, Egeria is able to agree the sale on behalf of its controlling interest. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including applicable competition authority approvals, and is expected to close in late Q3 or early Q4 2026.

ACCO expects the acquisition to generate approximately $5 million to $8 million of cost synergies within 18 months of closing, principally by integrating Trust into its existing platform and leveraging ACCO's established infrastructure. The company also expects the acquisition to be modestly accretive to adjusted earnings per share during the first 12 months following completion. These expected synergies and earnings benefits provide the principal financial rationale for the acquisition despite the undisclosed purchase price.

ACCO will finance the acquisition through borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility, rather than arranging a new financing package. The company expects the transaction to have only a limited effect on its overall leverage relative to earnings. Because the financing comes from an existing committed facility, there is no disclosed new debt or equity issuance associated with the transaction.

Trust represents the latest addition to ACCO's growing technology-peripherals portfolio, following the company's acquisition of EPOS from Demant in January 2026. Following completion, ACCO expects its technology-peripherals business to generate approximately $500 million of annual sales on a pro forma basis. The company views the category as a higher-growth part of its portfolio capable of offsetting the continuing decline in its traditional office and paper-based businesses.

Interestingly, the market reaction to the deal has been muted: RTT News reported that ACCO's share price dipped slightly in pre-market trading following the announcement. This may indicate some investor caution about ACCO's continued acquisition-led expansion and use of debt financing so soon after its acquisition of EPOS, particularly given that the purchase price for Trust has not been disclosed.