Ralf Schlozer
Nov 24, 2015
On Friday the 20th of November the news broke that the Flint
Group has bought Xeikon from previous venture capital owner Bencis,
almost two and half years after they bought the digital print and
platesetter business from Punch International.
Xeikon will continue to operate in its existing lines of business and
will now become a new division known as Flint Group Digital Printing
Solutions. Even in terms of personnel, continuity is sought, with Xeikon
CEO Wim Maes staying as president of the division. The deal needs the
approval of European competition authorities, which is expected by end
of 2015 as there should not be any concerns about the transaction.
In some ways the acquisition marks a U-turn for Flint after it sold
its nascent Jetrion inkjet division to EFI in 2006. EFI paid around $40
million as its first investment in inkjet printing, in the process
starting a new line of business, while digital activities pretty much
stopped at Flint. Now Flint Group feels it is ready to throw their hat
again into the digital arena, possibly seeing the success the Jetrion
business is having today. A bigger driver is likely the changed
ownership that Flint Group itself is now experiencing. Since 2014 Flint
has been essentially an equity capital owned business, owned by Goldman
Sachs Merchant Banking Division in partnership with Koch Equity
Development. Prior to that, Flint had grown by acquisition and merger
into a leading position in litho and packaging inks. To this day, Flint
continues to acquire other ink businesses to consolidate its position.
The Xeikon activities are a good
complement to the activities of Flint. Flint is focussing on printing
ink for analogue presses, including blankets and press chemicals, as
well as flexo plates. So far , Flint Group has had two divisions: one
for packaging and one named “print media” – essentially focussing on
heatset offset web applications. There is a small overlap in the flexo
business however: Xeikon produces Thermoflexx platesetters for exposing
flexo plates, including those from Flint.
The core appeal of Xeikon, however, is its digital press business, on
which Xeikon was founded in the late 1980s and which brought out its
first digital color press in 1993, the same year in which Indigo
launched its own color press. Today Xeikon builds webfed dry toner
presses both for document printing and packaging print. While shares in
document printing are low because of stiff competition from a range of
vendors, Xeikon’s label and packaging press business has grown quickly
in recent years; today it accounts for over 50% of Xeikon’s revenues
and has made it the second largest supplier in the market after HP
Indigo .
In the short term there will be no changes to the Xeikon operations,
and even for drupa Flint Group and Xeikon will focus on their lines of
business in separate booths. In the mid and long term Xeikon can
certainly benefit from Flint’s greater financial resources and the
global distribution network. While Flint Group is only selling direct in
a couple of major countries, Xeikon’s new parent has many offices and
sales and support locations around the world. While it will take time to
scale up knowledge about Xeikon among the wider Flint Group operations,
Xeikon and the new Flint digital division can expect to ultimately
benefit from being a part of a much larger company.
In the long term the financial resources and Flint’s aim to establish
itself in digital print will be of great benefit to Xeikon as well. At
drupa 2012 Xeikon had a technology demo for liquid toner printing and
announced it was working on a press under the Trillium name. While the
company has gone quiet in the meantime and the initially announced
shipment to a French customer, that has not happened yet; however, there
are now three Trillium printing lines in operation at Xeikon’s Lier
facility, partially producing commercial work.; and the full launch will
be at drupa 2016. We frequently see that new product introductions are
delayed and ironing out the last wrinkles is the most difficult and time
consuming part in launching a new product. Increasing the resources in
the final stretch of product launch certainly would help.
Flint will certainly want to grow the digital side of their business,
as opposed to a financial investor mainly concerned about a return of
operations. As Antoine Fady, CEO of Flint, says: “This acquisition
represents an excellent opportunity for Flint Group, propelling the
organisation further into the digital solutions market, where we will
continue to deliver on our long term strategy of driving growth through
product innovation, focus on developing markets and portfolio
expansion.” In contrast to analogue printing, in digital printing
hardware and consumables are closely linked, especially for toner
devices. The acquisition is opening the door for Flint now to grow in
both areas. Additionally, digital print remains on a growth path and
digital packaging print even more so. The labels market is moving
rapidly towards digital production and flexible and folding carton are
just starting to take off. It is entirely possible that more
acquisitions will follow to strengthen Flint’s position in digital
print.
- See more at: http://blog.infotrends.com/?p=20434#more-20434
Ralf Schlozer
Nov 24, 2015
On Friday the 20th of November the news broke that the Flint
Group has bought Xeikon from previous venture capital owner Bencis,
almost two and half years after they bought the digital print and
platesetter business from Punch International.
Xeikon will continue to operate in its existing lines of business and
will now become a new division known as Flint Group Digital Printing
Solutions. Even in terms of personnel, continuity is sought, with Xeikon
CEO Wim Maes staying as president of the division. The deal needs the
approval of European competition authorities, which is expected by end
of 2015 as there should not be any concerns about the transaction.
In some ways the acquisition marks a U-turn for Flint after it sold
its nascent Jetrion inkjet division to EFI in 2006. EFI paid around $40
million as its first investment in inkjet printing, in the process
starting a new line of business, while digital activities pretty much
stopped at Flint. Now Flint Group feels it is ready to throw their hat
again into the digital arena, possibly seeing the success the Jetrion
business is having today. A bigger driver is likely the changed
ownership that Flint Group itself is now experiencing. Since 2014 Flint
has been essentially an equity capital owned business, owned by Goldman
Sachs Merchant Banking Division in partnership with Koch Equity
Development. Prior to that, Flint had grown by acquisition and merger
into a leading position in litho and packaging inks. To this day, Flint
continues to acquire other ink businesses to consolidate its position.
The Xeikon activities are a good
complement to the activities of Flint. Flint is focussing on printing
ink for analogue presses, including blankets and press chemicals, as
well as flexo plates. So far , Flint Group has had two divisions: one
for packaging and one named “print media” – essentially focussing on
heatset offset web applications. There is a small overlap in the flexo
business however: Xeikon produces Thermoflexx platesetters for exposing
flexo plates, including those from Flint.
The core appeal of Xeikon, however, is its digital press business, on
which Xeikon was founded in the late 1980s and which brought out its
first digital color press in 1993, the same year in which Indigo
launched its own color press. Today Xeikon builds webfed dry toner
presses both for document printing and packaging print. While shares in
document printing are low because of stiff competition from a range of
vendors, Xeikon’s label and packaging press business has grown quickly
in recent years; today it accounts for over 50% of Xeikon’s revenues
and has made it the second largest supplier in the market after HP
Indigo .
In the short term there will be no changes to the Xeikon operations,
and even for drupa Flint Group and Xeikon will focus on their lines of
business in separate booths. In the mid and long term Xeikon can
certainly benefit from Flint’s greater financial resources and the
global distribution network. While Flint Group is only selling direct in
a couple of major countries, Xeikon’s new parent has many offices and
sales and support locations around the world. While it will take time to
scale up knowledge about Xeikon among the wider Flint Group operations,
Xeikon and the new Flint digital division can expect to ultimately
benefit from being a part of a much larger company.
In the long term the financial resources and Flint’s aim to establish
itself in digital print will be of great benefit to Xeikon as well. At
drupa 2012 Xeikon had a technology demo for liquid toner printing and
announced it was working on a press under the Trillium name. While the
company has gone quiet in the meantime and the initially announced
shipment to a French customer, that has not happened yet; however, there
are now three Trillium printing lines in operation at Xeikon’s Lier
facility, partially producing commercial work.; and the full launch will
be at drupa 2016. We frequently see that new product introductions are
delayed and ironing out the last wrinkles is the most difficult and time
consuming part in launching a new product. Increasing the resources in
the final stretch of product launch certainly would help.
Flint will certainly want to grow the digital side of their business,
as opposed to a financial investor mainly concerned about a return of
operations. As Antoine Fady, CEO of Flint, says: “This acquisition
represents an excellent opportunity for Flint Group, propelling the
organisation further into the digital solutions market, where we will
continue to deliver on our long term strategy of driving growth through
product innovation, focus on developing markets and portfolio
expansion.” In contrast to analogue printing, in digital printing
hardware and consumables are closely linked, especially for toner
devices. The acquisition is opening the door for Flint now to grow in
both areas. Additionally, digital print remains on a growth path and
digital packaging print even more so. The labels market is moving
rapidly towards digital production and flexible and folding carton are
just starting to take off. It is entirely possible that more
acquisitions will follow to strengthen Flint’s position in digital
print.
- See more at: http://blog.infotrends.com/?p=20434#more-20434
Ralf Schlozer
Nov 24, 2015
On Friday the 20th of November the news broke that the Flint
Group has bought Xeikon from previous venture capital owner Bencis,
almost two and half years after they bought the digital print and
platesetter business from Punch International.
Xeikon will continue to operate in its existing lines of business and
will now become a new division known as Flint Group Digital Printing
Solutions. Even in terms of personnel, continuity is sought, with Xeikon
CEO Wim Maes staying as president of the division. The deal needs the
approval of European competition authorities, which is expected by end
of 2015 as there should not be any concerns about the transaction.
In some ways the acquisition marks a U-turn for Flint after it sold
its nascent Jetrion inkjet division to EFI in 2006. EFI paid around $40
million as its first investment in inkjet printing, in the process
starting a new line of business, while digital activities pretty much
stopped at Flint. Now Flint Group feels it is ready to throw their hat
again into the digital arena, possibly seeing the success the Jetrion
business is having today. A bigger driver is likely the changed
ownership that Flint Group itself is now experiencing. Since 2014 Flint
has been essentially an equity capital owned business, owned by Goldman
Sachs Merchant Banking Division in partnership with Koch Equity
Development. Prior to that, Flint had grown by acquisition and merger
into a leading position in litho and packaging inks. To this day, Flint
continues to acquire other ink businesses to consolidate its position.
The Xeikon activities are a good
complement to the activities of Flint. Flint is focussing on printing
ink for analogue presses, including blankets and press chemicals, as
well as flexo plates. So far , Flint Group has had two divisions: one
for packaging and one named “print media” – essentially focussing on
heatset offset web applications. There is a small overlap in the flexo
business however: Xeikon produces Thermoflexx platesetters for exposing
flexo plates, including those from Flint.
The core appeal of Xeikon, however, is its digital press business, on
which Xeikon was founded in the late 1980s and which brought out its
first digital color press in 1993, the same year in which Indigo
launched its own color press. Today Xeikon builds webfed dry toner
presses both for document printing and packaging print. While shares in
document printing are low because of stiff competition from a range of
vendors, Xeikon’s label and packaging press business has grown quickly
in recent years; today it accounts for over 50% of Xeikon’s revenues
and has made it the second largest supplier in the market after HP
Indigo .
In the short term there will be no changes to the Xeikon operations,
and even for drupa Flint Group and Xeikon will focus on their lines of
business in separate booths. In the mid and long term Xeikon can
certainly benefit from Flint’s greater financial resources and the
global distribution network. While Flint Group is only selling direct in
a couple of major countries, Xeikon’s new parent has many offices and
sales and support locations around the world. While it will take time to
scale up knowledge about Xeikon among the wider Flint Group operations,
Xeikon and the new Flint digital division can expect to ultimately
benefit from being a part of a much larger company.
In the long term the financial resources and Flint’s aim to establish
itself in digital print will be of great benefit to Xeikon as well. At
drupa 2012 Xeikon had a technology demo for liquid toner printing and
announced it was working on a press under the Trillium name. While the
company has gone quiet in the meantime and the initially announced
shipment to a French customer, that has not happened yet; however, there
are now three Trillium printing lines in operation at Xeikon’s Lier
facility, partially producing commercial work.; and the full launch will
be at drupa 2016. We frequently see that new product introductions are
delayed and ironing out the last wrinkles is the most difficult and time
consuming part in launching a new product. Increasing the resources in
the final stretch of product launch certainly would help.
Flint will certainly want to grow the digital side of their business,
as opposed to a financial investor mainly concerned about a return of
operations. As Antoine Fady, CEO of Flint, says: “This acquisition
represents an excellent opportunity for Flint Group, propelling the
organisation further into the digital solutions market, where we will
continue to deliver on our long term strategy of driving growth through
product innovation, focus on developing markets and portfolio
expansion.” In contrast to analogue printing, in digital printing
hardware and consumables are closely linked, especially for toner
devices. The acquisition is opening the door for Flint now to grow in
both areas. Additionally, digital print remains on a growth path and
digital packaging print even more so. The labels market is moving
rapidly towards digital production and flexible and folding carton are
just starting to take off. It is entirely possible that more
acquisitions will follow to strengthen Flint’s position in digital
print.
- See more at: http://blog.infotrends.com/?p=20434#more-20434
Ralf Schlozer
Nov 24, 2015
On Friday the 20th of November the news broke that the Flint
Group has bought Xeikon from previous venture capital owner Bencis,
almost two and half years after they bought the digital print and
platesetter business from Punch International.
Xeikon will continue to operate in its existing lines of business and
will now become a new division known as Flint Group Digital Printing
Solutions. Even in terms of personnel, continuity is sought, with Xeikon
CEO Wim Maes staying as president of the division. The deal needs the
approval of European competition authorities, which is expected by end
of 2015 as there should not be any concerns about the transaction.
In some ways the acquisition marks a U-turn for Flint after it sold
its nascent Jetrion inkjet division to EFI in 2006. EFI paid around $40
million as its first investment in inkjet printing, in the process
starting a new line of business, while digital activities pretty much
stopped at Flint. Now Flint Group feels it is ready to throw their hat
again into the digital arena, possibly seeing the success the Jetrion
business is having today. A bigger driver is likely the changed
ownership that Flint Group itself is now experiencing. Since 2014 Flint
has been essentially an equity capital owned business, owned by Goldman
Sachs Merchant Banking Division in partnership with Koch Equity
Development. Prior to that, Flint had grown by acquisition and merger
into a leading position in litho and packaging inks. To this day, Flint
continues to acquire other ink businesses to consolidate its position.
The Xeikon activities are a good
complement to the activities of Flint. Flint is focussing on printing
ink for analogue presses, including blankets and press chemicals, as
well as flexo plates. So far , Flint Group has had two divisions: one
for packaging and one named “print media” – essentially focussing on
heatset offset web applications. There is a small overlap in the flexo
business however: Xeikon produces Thermoflexx platesetters for exposing
flexo plates, including those from Flint.
The core appeal of Xeikon, however, is its digital press business, on
which Xeikon was founded in the late 1980s and which brought out its
first digital color press in 1993, the same year in which Indigo
launched its own color press. Today Xeikon builds webfed dry toner
presses both for document printing and packaging print. While shares in
document printing are low because of stiff competition from a range of
vendors, Xeikon’s label and packaging press business has grown quickly
in recent years; today it accounts for over 50% of Xeikon’s revenues
and has made it the second largest supplier in the market after HP
Indigo .
In the short term there will be no changes to the Xeikon operations,
and even for drupa Flint Group and Xeikon will focus on their lines of
business in separate booths. In the mid and long term Xeikon can
certainly benefit from Flint’s greater financial resources and the
global distribution network. While Flint Group is only selling direct in
a couple of major countries, Xeikon’s new parent has many offices and
sales and support locations around the world. While it will take time to
scale up knowledge about Xeikon among the wider Flint Group operations,
Xeikon and the new Flint digital division can expect to ultimately
benefit from being a part of a much larger company.
In the long term the financial resources and Flint’s aim to establish
itself in digital print will be of great benefit to Xeikon as well. At
drupa 2012 Xeikon had a technology demo for liquid toner printing and
announced it was working on a press under the Trillium name. While the
company has gone quiet in the meantime and the initially announced
shipment to a French customer, that has not happened yet; however, there
are now three Trillium printing lines in operation at Xeikon’s Lier
facility, partially producing commercial work.; and the full launch will
be at drupa 2016. We frequently see that new product introductions are
delayed and ironing out the last wrinkles is the most difficult and time
consuming part in launching a new product. Increasing the resources in
the final stretch of product launch certainly would help.
Flint will certainly want to grow the digital side of their business,
as opposed to a financial investor mainly concerned about a return of
operations. As Antoine Fady, CEO of Flint, says: “This acquisition
represents an excellent opportunity for Flint Group, propelling the
organisation further into the digital solutions market, where we will
continue to deliver on our long term strategy of driving growth through
product innovation, focus on developing markets and portfolio
expansion.” In contrast to analogue printing, in digital printing
hardware and consumables are closely linked, especially for toner
devices. The acquisition is opening the door for Flint now to grow in
both areas. Additionally, digital print remains on a growth path and
digital packaging print even more so. The labels market is moving
rapidly towards digital production and flexible and folding carton are
just starting to take off. It is entirely possible that more
acquisitions will follow to strengthen Flint’s position in digital
print.
- See more at: http://blog.infotrends.com/?p=20434#more-20434
Ralf Schlozer
Nov 24, 2015
On Friday the 20th of November the news broke that the Flint
Group has bought Xeikon from previous venture capital owner Bencis,
almost two and half years after they bought the digital print and
platesetter business from Punch International.
Xeikon will continue to operate in its existing lines of business and
will now become a new division known as Flint Group Digital Printing
Solutions. Even in terms of personnel, continuity is sought, with Xeikon
CEO Wim Maes staying as president of the division. The deal needs the
approval of European competition authorities, which is expected by end
of 2015 as there should not be any concerns about the transaction.
In some ways the acquisition marks a U-turn for Flint after it sold
its nascent Jetrion inkjet division to EFI in 2006. EFI paid around $40
million as its first investment in inkjet printing, in the process
starting a new line of business, while digital activities pretty much
stopped at Flint. Now Flint Group feels it is ready to throw their hat
again into the digital arena, possibly seeing the success the Jetrion
business is having today. A bigger driver is likely the changed
ownership that Flint Group itself is now experiencing. Since 2014 Flint
has been essentially an equity capital owned business, owned by Goldman
Sachs Merchant Banking Division in partnership with Koch Equity
Development. Prior to that, Flint had grown by acquisition and merger
into a leading position in litho and packaging inks. To this day, Flint
continues to acquire other ink businesses to consolidate its position.
The Xeikon activities are a good
complement to the activities of Flint. Flint is focussing on printing
ink for analogue presses, including blankets and press chemicals, as
well as flexo plates. So far , Flint Group has had two divisions: one
for packaging and one named “print media” – essentially focussing on
heatset offset web applications. There is a small overlap in the flexo
business however: Xeikon produces Thermoflexx platesetters for exposing
flexo plates, including those from Flint.
The core appeal of Xeikon, however, is its digital press business, on
which Xeikon was founded in the late 1980s and which brought out its
first digital color press in 1993, the same year in which Indigo
launched its own color press. Today Xeikon builds webfed dry toner
presses both for document printing and packaging print. While shares in
document printing are low because of stiff competition from a range of
vendors, Xeikon’s label and packaging press business has grown quickly
in recent years; today it accounts for over 50% of Xeikon’s revenues
and has made it the second largest supplier in the market after HP
Indigo .
In the short term there will be no changes to the Xeikon operations,
and even for drupa Flint Group and Xeikon will focus on their lines of
business in separate booths. In the mid and long term Xeikon can
certainly benefit from Flint’s greater financial resources and the
global distribution network. While Flint Group is only selling direct in
a couple of major countries, Xeikon’s new parent has many offices and
sales and support locations around the world. While it will take time to
scale up knowledge about Xeikon among the wider Flint Group operations,
Xeikon and the new Flint digital division can expect to ultimately
benefit from being a part of a much larger company.
In the long term the financial resources and Flint’s aim to establish
itself in digital print will be of great benefit to Xeikon as well. At
drupa 2012 Xeikon had a technology demo for liquid toner printing and
announced it was working on a press under the Trillium name. While the
company has gone quiet in the meantime and the initially announced
shipment to a French customer, that has not happened yet; however, there
are now three Trillium printing lines in operation at Xeikon’s Lier
facility, partially producing commercial work.; and the full launch will
be at drupa 2016. We frequently see that new product introductions are
delayed and ironing out the last wrinkles is the most difficult and time
consuming part in launching a new product. Increasing the resources in
the final stretch of product launch certainly would help.
Flint will certainly want to grow the digital side of their business,
as opposed to a financial investor mainly concerned about a return of
operations. As Antoine Fady, CEO of Flint, says: “This acquisition
represents an excellent opportunity for Flint Group, propelling the
organisation further into the digital solutions market, where we will
continue to deliver on our long term strategy of driving growth through
product innovation, focus on developing markets and portfolio
expansion.” In contrast to analogue printing, in digital printing
hardware and consumables are closely linked, especially for toner
devices. The acquisition is opening the door for Flint now to grow in
both areas. Additionally, digital print remains on a growth path and
digital packaging print even more so. The labels market is moving
rapidly towards digital production and flexible and folding carton are
just starting to take off. It is entirely possible that more
acquisitions will follow to strengthen Flint’s position in digital
print.
- See more at: http://blog.infotrends.com/?p=20434#more-20434
New MFPs deliver high volumes and fast speeds
