Swiss press maker Wifag to be bought by manroland

It has been no secret that Wifag has been looking for a buyer for several months, it says it has since been seeking a suitable partner in order to respond to the ‘increasing consolidation pressure in the industry’. All offset press manufacturers have been under significant pressure since the GFC broke 18 months ago, with the newspepr industry, Wifag’s main area, the hardest hit of all.

According to manroland – which has signed a declaration of intent – by integrating the press and service business of Wifag, manroland will strengthen its position in the newspaper printing market, where it is already the number one supplier.

Gerd Finkbeiner, CEO of manroland says, “Our industry is marked by an ongoing and necessary consolidation. The current situation allows us to actively grasp the opportunities in the market to strengthen our business.”

The existing Wifag brand, continuity of the company philosophy, and customer relations will be preserved if the deal goes through, according to manroland. There are no plans to integrate Wifag manufacturing into manroland’s main centres of Augsburg or Offenbach. If the acquisition goes through, Bern will remain the base for Wifag.

Among its signature products, Wifag offers 4/2, 6/2 and 4/1 printing presses, notably its evolution and OF series of presses. In addition to newspaper press it has packaging and digital solutions.

Wifag had to lay of 90 of its staff last year, and recently announced plans to shed another 300 positions this coming July, together representing about 25 per cent of its total workforce.

For manroland the Wifag purchase represents its first major investment since it left the MAN Group. CEO Finkbeiner has consistently promoted manroland as a financially sound company with funds to invest. The business is owned 65 per cent by Allianz and 35 per cent by MAN.

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