Goss International and manroland web systems have put plans in place for a merger, combining their printing press businesses.
The current shareholders of Goss, American Industrial Partners, and of manroland, Possehl Group (Lübeck), would co-own the combined company.
Dennis Wickham, managing director, manroland Australasia, says, “At this stage it is going through due diligence, and the merger needs to be approved by governing bodies of different countries. If approved, it should go through mid-2018.
“There will be more announcements as time goes on, but all those items are still being worked out in fine detail. At this stage it is a joint partnership, with the percentages still being determined. I think it is positive for the industry, both companies have a lot of strengths, and coming together will hope bring those strengths forward, for everyone to benefit.”
The companies both manufacture and provide service of web offset printing systems for newspapers, commercial products and packaging. They see the combined company gaining benefit from the companies’ complementary geographic footprints; creating extensive synergies; ensuring long-term viability; and providing value-oriented solutions, especially in the area of aftermarket services. They say that, in the future, the new entity will become a strong business partner to all international web printers.
Alexander Wasserman, chief executive at manroland, says, “manroland is on the path for continued success. We want to continue to develop this path by creating synergies, fostering the further development of our research and development activities and strengthening our innovation focus. Our customers will be able to choose from a wider portfolio of products and services.”
Mohit Uberoi, chief executive at Goss, says, “This combination will enable us to achieve extensive synergies that will help us optimally serve our customers into the future. The combination will strive to provide a best-in-class product offering and customer service.”
Goss adds that the new company will rely on the combined expertise of its employees and will further continue its activities in the fields of web printing systems, services, consumables and system components for the newspaper, commercial, packaging and digital printing markets. It says a major focus will see the expansion of the business with retrofits and upgrades, and the systematic expansion of e-commerce.
Both Goss and manroland have recently unveiled new press-service packages. Goss acquired two aftermarket part specialists, Loudon Machine, and ex-Goss employee founded Graphic Automation Controls last year.
The Contiweb business of Goss International does not form part of the transaction. Contiweb, a specialist in advanced drying and web-handling products for printing, will separate and operate as an independent company. After transaction close, Contiweb will become a separate company under the ownership of American Industrial Partners.
