FIMI has completed the official takeover of Landa Digital Printing from the Israeli administration process. The company is half the size it was at the start of the year and no longer has any official role for founder Benny Landa. It will continue to be led by Gil Oron who had begun to trim employee numbers before the business entered administration at the end of June after its major backers withdrew what had been ongoing support. The business is now down to 250 personnel, has minimal debts and while it is expected to make a further loss next year, breakeven is anticipated for 2027 according to active chairman Richard Klapholz. He has been installed by FIMI to manage the $80 million investment.
That will start by looking after the interests of existing customers for the first “three, four or five months” and to stabilise the business before beginning to sell presses again.
There is a latent demand, says Oron, who adds that volumes of pages printed over the last three months have increased. “Customers did not suffer from our situation,” he says. “Even in the last three months we have been in discussions with existing customers about the purchase of more presses.”
Any new installations will be carefully assessed. The company cannot afford failed installations and is to trust word of mouth as the main means of getting its marketing message out. “We need to change the perception of the business,” says Klapholz.
He led another FIMI portfolio company for seven years until 2021. When appointed he says “it was a very similar turnaround situation to Landa’s. The task is the same: keep the good and fix the bad.”
And while Landa is now owned by a private equity company, there is no framework or matrix to operate the business for a limited time before selling it on. “We are managing the business as if we will own it forever,” he says.
The portfolio is currently limited to the S10 and S11 B1 sheetfed press in both straight and perfecting versions. Development of the W series web press for flexible packaging continues. When it sees the light of day will be decided later next year.
Klapholz has no recent experience of the industry, beyond talks to ten Landa users as part of the due diligence process. They stressed how important the technology was to their businesses.
The task for Klapholz and FIMI is to build on that start.
