BASF’s printing inks and plates operations, and Swedish ink manufacturer ANI Printing Inks have together been acquired by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Both businesses will be merged under the CVC umbrella. Details of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, are confidential.

The sale covers all the BASF Drucksysteme and other printing system company facilities and activities, including pigment production at Shanghai based BASF Colorants & Chemicals, and the alkali blue production plant in Huntington, West Virginia. ANI’s product portfolio and regional coverage are said to be very complementary to the BASF printing inks operations. The merged business will be headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

CVC managing director Dr Christian Wildmoser hails the proposed merger as “a decisive contribution to consolidation in a fragmented industry”. Dr Michael Stumpp, head of BASF Printing Systems, adds: “Our position will be strengthened in a highly competitive market and we will be better able to exploit the opportunities that arise in an increasingly globalized market.”

ANI Printing Inks ceo Peter Koivula comments: “Through this combination we not only create a leading European company that can service the demanding expectations of our customers, but also a global supplier of complete printing system solutions that can offer better products and services”.

BASF Printing Systems has 2,600 employees in 16 companies with 20 sites in Europe, the USA, South America and Asia. Total sales exceeded €600M in 2003. ANI Printing Inks has subsidiaries in most European countries, and Russia, China, South Africa, Brazil, Morocco, Malaysia, Thailand and the USA. The group employs 960 people worldwide and had sales of €231M last year. Originally part of Akzo Nobel Coatings, it became an independent privately owned company through an MBO in 2002.

Since 1981, CVC has acquired over 235 companies for a total consideration of more than €43 billion. Its current European portfolio of 54 companies, operating in 25 countries and employing over 230,000 people, has a combined turnover of €30 billion.



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