Heidelberg is continuing its growth by acquisition strategy in earnest with its takeover of Swiss label and folding carton press manufacturer Gallus.

Gallus Australia managing director James Rodden says it will be business as usual in the short term for local customers, and in the long term they will benefit from greater integration of Heidelberg and Fujifilm technology into its products.

“This agreement facilitates an extra level of cooperation between us and Heidelberg and also gives us access to Fujifilm technology in their global partnership,” he says.

Heidelberg and Gallus will launch a new digital inkjet label press in September, using Fujifilm inkjet heads.

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In a share-swapping deal with Gallus owner Ferdinand Rüesch, Heidelberg, which has owned 30 per cent of Gallus since 1999, picks up the remaining shares in exchange for Rüesch becoming the German press giant’s biggest shareholder.

Assuming the buyout is accepted by regulators, he will own 23 million new shares in Heidelberg valued at a minimum of €2.70 each, as well as a cash payment of no more than €10m, meaning he will own nine per cent of the company. Rüesch is obligated to keep all these shares until at least July 2015.

Gallus has a turnover of more than $222m a year, and employs around 500 staff worldwide. It will keep its name and management structure as part of the deal.

Heidelberg chief executive Gerold Linzbach says: “The full acquisition of Gallus will further enhance the cooperation of the two companies.”

“Together, we will continue to foster the development in the growing market for digital label production.”

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Rodden says Gallus will host an open house in September to showcase its new label presses, including an upcoming seven colour inline digital inkjet label printer based on its ECS340 flexo and Screen combination press.

“The development of this printer is a big step for us. Unlike most other inkjet printers it can do 1200dpi in one pass,” he says.

“We see the future of printing plants to be hybrids with both conventional and digital machines and that’s what we will be offering.”

He says all future Gallus machines will use Fujifilm CTP and will have MIS-driven systems.

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