After six months of negotiations, Agfa has sold its offset division to carve out specialists Aurelius. The deal has still to be approved by competition authorities, giving a completion date early in 2023. Aurelius was among a number of offers submitted for the business. “We chose the best one,” says an Agfa spokesman.
Agfa has made no secret of wanting to focus efforts on inkjet printing and has been open about reorganising the offset division as a separate entity to make a sale easier. This was announced in January 2021 with preparations completed ready for the sale process this year.
While plates and software are the focus of the division, it includes some chemicals and film that will continue to be produced by Agfa. A series of cooperation agreements covers this as well as the continuing supply of Asanti software from the newly independent business back to Agfa’s inkjet business.
Agfa’s Apogee software was developed for commercial offset printing and has spawned versions for newspapers, most recently packaging and also Avanti for large format inkjet printing.
The sale allows Agfa to concentrate on digital print opportunities around inkjet, ”one of the main growth engines” for the business. The acquisition of Inca earlier this summer is part of the same strategy.
Aurelius acquires plate production plants in Wiesbaden, Germany, Wuxi in China and at Suzano in Brazil. It also acquires 1,700 staff (130 in R&D) and distribution channels formally operated by Agfa. It will be able to use the Agfa name for a period.
While ultimately inkjet and other digital print technologies may usurp offset litho, Aurelius is calculating that there is plenty of life left for the technology, especially with the growth of sustainability and in packaging applications.
Founding partner Dirk Markus says: “Continued innovation of plate technology and associated software solutions, as well as post-pandemic market trends, have created an opportunity for Aurelius to leverage its existing expertise to capture growth in the prepress market. This will be supported by a focus on growth markets such as packaging and prepress software. Innovative research and the support of Aurelius will enable the firm to lead the ongoing industry consolidation.”
“Agfa Offset Solutions offers various growth potentials, amongst others, in environmentally friendly low chem and chem-free products. The existing portfolio of leading products and services already forms a strong basis for optimisation. We are eager to start this journey, engage with the management and their team and bring in our operational expertise”, says Matthias Täubl, CEO of Aurelius Equity Opportunities.
This is one of the businesses that have contributed to the deal. There is a commitment to expanding Agfa’s market position. This must mean taking share from Kodak, which is enjoying success with its Sonora plates and has pledged to be last man standing in plates, or Fujifilm, which like Agfa is focusing on its digital print businesses.
