BREAKING: IVE will spend $16m to acquire substantially all of the assets of stricken rival Ovato, but will keep only the WA site operational in the long term. The deal is subject to ACCC clearance, decision expected in two weeks’ time. Brisbane, Cairns, Auckland are not included.

Trade-only print production and communication company Cheque-Mates is installing a Ricoh Pro C9210 digital cut-sheet press, as the company upgrades its digital capacity.

Jason Rewse and Glenn MacKellin took out the top awards at the Halifax Vogel Group Annual Salesmasters Awards, with Rewse Salesmaster of the Year, and MacKellin the Sales Rookie of the Year.

As it waits for the ACCC to approve its bid for stricken rival Ovato, diversified marketing services provider IVE saw all its figures rise in its full year results, with the company now poised to enter the packaging market.

Currie Group has launched HP xRServices, a mixed reality platform, which it says will transform service delivery on the range of HP Indigo digital presses, and across all its products.

Anthony Lew, CEO of printIQ, has sold the business to a major software investor, Banyan Software, as the company looks at the next stage in its growth trajectory. Lew will remain in his role.

The five-year saga over alleged $450m worth of accounting irregularities at Fuji Xerox in New Zealand, and later Australia is over, with the parties settling out of court.

Controversial owners of Sunshine Coast-based operation Express Print & Mail, Wendy and Matt Chadwick, have sold the business, bowing out two years after the move to new premises.

Kodak sales rose by 10 per cent in the second quarter, with its Traditional Printing division its best performing arm, as the company saw sales reach US$321m for the period.

The ACCC is set to work in double-quick time for the proposed takeover of Ovato by IVE. Submissions need to be in by next Thursday, and the preliminary decision date timeline will be significantly shorter than usual.

Cimpress, owner of online print giant Vista, has posted record sales and profits for the year, but Vista itself failed to shine compared with the group’s other operations.

Offset press giant Heidelberg saw significant improvements in both sales and operating profitability in the first quarter, thanks to what it says is the continued recovery of the market in almost all regions.

Sydney print operation Allcraft is in voluntary liquidation, the first printer, apart from Ovato, that has hit the skids since the end of lockdowns, as the directors pulled the pin.

Diversified marketing services group IVE is aiming to buy stricken heatset giant Ovato, entering an Implementation Deed with administrators FTI Consulting this morning.

Melbourne-based printer Implant Media is making a major move into the books market, installing a new Horizon BQ-270V perfect binder, supplied by Currie Group, to give it the production power it needs.

The administrator of stricken print giant Ovato has received a number of expressions of interest for the business, with serious bidders now going through the company's books.