PMP will today close the Hannanprint facility in Noble Park, Victoria, as part of its merger with IPMG - which will result in 100 redundancies. PMP announced the shuttering of the former IPMG plant and the loss of 100 jobs, saying it will work to move some affected staff to its Clayton facility.

Sonora process-free technology now accounts for 20% of Kodak printing plate sales in developed markets driving overall growth for the recovering giant. According to John O’Grady, vice president (pictured right) the business has turned the corner and is growing again.

Printers using solar panels to cut thousands of dollars from their power bills say WA energy companies are preventing them from feeding their excess solar capacity back into the grid. “Funnily enough, excess domestic solar power does go back into the grid in WA and the consumer gets paid for that."

Printers argue they can't afford paper price increases but after a tough 2016 price rises are overdue, says pulp and paper industry bible IndustryEdge. "Over the last decade, the price of paper has gone backwards."

The NZCC again has pushed back the date for its ruling on the proposed merger of leading publishers Fairfax NZ and NZME. In a new submission, the publishers described the commission’s concerns about the deal as ‘backward-looking" and “illogical.”

Australian biotech company Circa Group appointed Dr. Jeff Eaves (pictured) as GM to run subsidiary Circa Sustainable Chemicals - a $6.6 million biosolvent joint venture at Norske Skog’s Bayer paper mill in Tasmania.

Kodak's new Sonora UV Process Free Plate – the latest addition to the company’s process-free technology portfolio - is now available in Australia and New Zealand. "We can produce complex and demanding jobs on any substrate."

Platinum Equity looks set to acquire OfficeMax, which would give the US-based equity firm two of the three major chains in Australia’s $10 billion-a-year office supplies market. Specialist print management unit OfficeMax Print Solutions offers a range of services from pre-production through to marketing and distribution.

Ben Eaton doubles down on backing the technology giant in the local market in wide format and MIS following his successful DES takeover.

Auction house O’Maras has opened bidding on printing machinery and equipment from collapsed Brisbane business Colony Printing, which went into liquidation earlier this month. The pre-bidding on 89 separate lots will continue for the next week until a live webcast auction on Tuesday, 4 April.

Sydney's Hogan Print, originally an offset company, says a recent label print job using the latest AveryPro range of labels run through a new Indigo 5600 press has delivered a striking design ‘punch’ that should prove popular with other customers.

US private equity giant TPG Capital is reported to have acquired more than 35 million shares in Fairfax Media in recent days as it considers a bid for one of the oldest and largest media companies in Australia and New Zealand.

Xeikon, a division of Flint Group, has named Benoit Chatelard as president & CEO of Flint’s Digital Solutions business, replacing former Xeikon CEO Wim Maes, who is leaving the company. “I am leaving Xeikon and Flint Group with mixed feelings,” Maes says.

Belgian digital press manufacturer Xeikon, now owned by Flint Group, is entering the inkjet market with a new UV inkjet label press, the Xeikon PX3000.

ISO 21331, the international standard for assessing the potential deinkability of print, is one of several standards under development to improve the environmental impact of graphics technology and print. Laurel Brunner is one of the sustainability experts working on the document.

HP's Dscoop USA conference featured a new vision for the user group, all-star speakers and cutting-edge technology - but it was after the conference that Aussie visitors got a real "wow" moment as HP showed off the first Indigo 50000 digital press installed anywhere in the world.