manroland Resists KBA Overtures

OFFENBACH, GERMANY—While some pundits believe now is the appropriate time and financial atmosphere for a merger between two or more of the printing industry's major offset press manufacturers, the participants involved aren't buying into that philosophy. Well, at least not all of them are game.

There has been plenty of conjecture but no matches in recent inquiries/overtures involving manroland, KBA and Heidelberg. Earlier this week, several international sources, including Bloomberg, quoted an interview with KBA CEO Helge Hansen as saying the company is in favor of a merger with manroland AG.

manroland was not titillated by the offer, and its primary shareholder, Allianz Capital Partners, responded with an emphatic "no" through another media outlet in short order. Apparently not even the European media can act as an M&A conduit.