T&K TOKA Acquires 145-Year-Old Van Son Printing Inks

SAITAMA, Japan, and HILVERSUM, Netherlands - December 4, 2017 - T&K TOKA, listed at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and one of the leading international suppliers of printing inks for offset and UV applications in the commercial and packaging markets, has signed an agreement to purchase Van Son located in Hilversum, the Netherlands. The family-owned company has manufactured high-quality sheetfed offset inks for 145 years.

With this purchase, T&K TOKA substantially expands its production and distribution capacity outside Asia.

“Van Son is one of the leading ink manufacturers in Europe. The company is known for its high-quality inks with excellent consistency. Its conventional four-color sheetfed ink program is a welcome addition to our portfolio,” explains Ryuichi Kurimoto, managing director of Sales Dept., at T&K TOKA. “Further the acquisition will raise our profile as a full scale ink solution provider to the printing markets in Europe and the U.S. Additionally, it will enable further improvement of our service levels and substantially re-enforces our distribution presence in many parts of the world.”

The agreement reached includes the transfer of all intellectual property, technical expertise, product portfolio and manufacturing equipment of the Van Son headquarters in the Netherlands and its affiliate in the U.S. Van Son, as a member of the T&K TOKA group, will continue to produce and serve customers from the production site in Hilversum under the worldwide renowned Van Son brand.

The combination and integration of the product offerings of T&K TOKA and Van Son will enable customers to benefit from a more comprehensive product portfolio and a wider technological expertise. Both companies will work closely together to ensure a smooth integration of business without any interference for current customers of both companies.

“This deal is a perfect match” says Wim van Mastrigt, managing director at Van Son. “Not only are our products complementary, T&K TOKA is indeed the ideal owner of our organization. As its substantial larger structure will secure many opportunities for our worldwide distribution partners to advance on their individual markets, it is our conviction that this combination of strengths will offer many advantages and a real alternative to many printers around the globe. The Van Son organization is looking forward to embark on this growth scenario with our new Japanese colleagues.

With the strategical investment in Van Son, T&K TOKA sets the framework for enhancing its position in Europe and the U.S., whilst at the same time, stay loyal to their management principle of “Technology & Kindness,” which represents TOKA’s commitment “on offering high-quality, easy-to-use products,” which has been the bases of the success of the last 70 years on the Asian continent.

At present time, T&K TOKA consists out of multiple production locations in Japan and manufacturing sites in Korea, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia. T&K TOKA produces for a wide variety of ink products but specializes in UV-applications in all kind of printing processes.

T&K TOKA and Van Son have agreed not to disclose any further details of this transaction.

Source: Van Son and T&K TOKA.

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of Printing Impressions.