Flint Group

LUXEMBOURG—Flint Group, a supplier of inks, plates and raw materials to the printing industry, has reached an agreement in principle to acquire Day International, which supplies printing blankets, sleeves, image transfer media and pressroom chemicals. Combined, the newly merged company will boast (U.S.) $3.32 billion in annual revenues. The deal is expected to close within 60 days, subject to regulatory approvals. “By combining the complementary product lines of the two companies, we are creating a stronger supplier with a significantly broader range of products for our customers around the world,” said Dave Frescoln, CEO of Flint Group, in a release. “In addition, Day’s image transfer technologies

MAN Roland Hosts Printers for Press Premier OFFENBACH, GERMANY—The world premier of a “next generation” sheetfed printing platform isn’t an everyday occurrence, so MAN Roland extended its recent festivities to more than a week to allow for bringing in several groups of select printers, journalists and its own employees from around the globe. The stars of the show were HiPrint and DirectDrive versions of the new Roland 700 sheetfed printing platform. To make the most of the trip, the contingent from North America was additionally treated to tours of a local DirectDrive beta site, MAN Roland’s foundry and its manufacturing/assembly facilities for sheetfed presses.

LUXEMBOURG—Flint Group, a supplier of inks, plates and raw materials to the printing industry, has reached an agreement in principle to acquire Day International, which supplies printing blankets, sleeves, image transfer media and pressroom chemicals.The combined company creates a firm with $3.32 billion in annual revenues. The deal is expected to close within 60 days,…

DAYTON, OH—Day International, which manufactures and supplies printing blankets, sleeves, image transfer media and pressroom chemicals, may be sold to printing goods supplier Flint Group.The negotiations were announced by Day, but the company gave no indication of an imminent deal. The companies will not comment further on the talks.

ANN ARBOR, MI—Citing mounting costs for raw materials and energy consumption, Flint Group’s North American packaging and sheetfed divisions will increase prices on all packaging and commercial inks. Customers will be notified directly by Flint Group’s sales organization to discuss the impact for the particular products they purchase. Price increases are effective February 1. NOTE:…

ANN ARBOR, MI—December 14, 2006—Flint Group’s North American Packaging and Sheetfed divisions announced they will increase prices on all packaging and commercial inks. Customers will be notified directly by Flint Group’s sales organization to discuss the impact for the particular products they purchase. Flint Group will honor their contractual obligations in implementing the increases. Price increases are effective February 1, 2007. Doug Labertew and Susan Kuchta, vice presidents and general managers of the Sheetfed and Packaging Divisions, respectively, noted that rising costs of raw materials and energy continue to put enormous pressure on the costs of these inks. Susan Kuchta explained further: “Unfortunately, these increases

Palamides Open House Delivers RENNIGEN, GERMANY—Think that an automated delivery system can’t significantly boost the productivity of your folder, stitcher or in-line finishing system? Think again. Several such solutions were shown recently at Palamides’ “Think Tank 2006” open house held here. MBO America showcased these new equipment offerings to a group of printers and trade binders from across the United States. The open house event was hosted by Stefano Palamides, who founded Palamides GmbH in 1997, and partner company MBO Binder GmbH & Co. MBO America serves as the exclusive distributor for Palamides in the U.S. market. Innovations shown included signature production from extra-large format (XXL) sheets

AWAY FROM the churning of offset presses and clicking of bindery machinery, a buzz was emanating from the comparably quiet booths containing consumable product vendors at Graph Expo—a buzz caused by new product announcements, enhancements and other newsworthy scuttlebutt. Toyo Ink America, for instance, showcased a comprehensive lineup of inks for sheetfed and web printing applications. Ink products that debuted at the show included: Kaleido four-color process ink; edible inks; heatset web inks; the Scuff Tuff SG process series; and the Aqualess Ultra process series. New non-ink products from Toyo included the TOYO 1050 Color Finder system, with color matches for 1,050 colors that are

IT MAY be telling that, with a few exceptions, the presses in operation around the show floor of Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2006 were of the digital variety. Offset units were conspicuous in their absence. Digital presses largely have become part of the commercial printing mainstream, rather than being a specialty product segment or market niche. The exhibition’s Wide Format Pavilion showed ongoing interest in that segment, but adding a wide, large, superwide or grand format digital system still is seen as a way to diversify rather than being standard equipment. Hewlett-Packard shared results from an InfoTrends study that surveyed a sampling

Lee Sheds Commercial Assets DAVENPORT, IA—Lee Enterprises is divesting its standalone publishing and commercial printing operations in the Pacific Northwest and a twice-weekly newspaper in Oregon via asset sales to different buyers. The deals involve three buyers and were expected to be completed by early this month. The aggregate price of the Pacific Northwest properties (which include several Websites) is approximately $51 million. Three Printers Join Forces MARLBOROUGH, MA—Three independent printing firms—Pendleton Printers, Reservoir Printing and Apex Press—are being merged into a new company called Synergy Graphic Solutions. The company is owned by Doug Pendleton, president of his namesake company. Pendleton Printers and Apex Press will move