The two companies have signed an according agreement, which is yet to be confirmed by the relevant European antitrust organisations. The transaction will be closed within the next weeks. The transaction with Goss includes the business areas Commercial Web, Newspaper as well as, in the US, Finishing Systems for web offset machines.

The companies agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

Herbert Meyer, Heidelberg CFO, says, “By combining and restructuring activities, both companies are aiming for better capacity utilisation, along with optimised market penetration due to the resulting enhanced product portfolio.”

The transfer of Heidelberg’s web offset activities to Goss International will affect more than 2000 Heidelberg employees at sites mainly in the US, France and Netherlands.

Complementing own activities, Heidelberg had entered the web offset business by acquiring Harris Graphic Corporation in 1988. Through the acquisition of the Dutch company Stork Contiweb in 1996, Heidelberg has also been able to offer splicers and dryers in this market segment. In the same year, Heidelberg extended its portfolio to offer finishing systems for web offset machines by acquiring Sheridan Systems (USA and Great Britain).

In fiscal year 2003/2004, Heidelberg’s web offset sales amounted to EUR376m. This corresponds for roughly ten per cent of the of the group’s total sales of EUR3.66bn.

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