***Ascent Partners: Market Watch***

12 July 2011

After launching Ascent Partners Market Watch last week, we had numerous positive emails - the concise summary that the bulletin provides of market movements, such as mergers, acquisitions, closures and buy outs, and of major equipment sales and installations, seems to have hit the mark.

In the May /June edition we identified 8 closures, 5 new starts / new premises, 45 machinery installs / sales including 19 digital, 7 wide format machines and 3 major inkjets), and some major players consolidating their manufacturing premises.

You can receive this and future editions via our web site. Subscription is free on an “opt in” basis. The bulletin will now be issued monthly (next issue 1 August).

For those that missed it last week here is what we identified in our first edition of Market Watch in May / June.

Market Movements:

  • Dominated by some major closures, including Colourscan, Moore, and Borders (we just missed the Australian Envelopes administration on Friday)
  • Some shining lights in the new starts / new manufacturing sites including CMYK hub set up in QLD, On Demand Books move to Aust, Webstar opening a new printing facility in Auckland
  • Consolidations – particularly in NZ with Geon and PMP
  • Buy outs – BJ Ball replaces CPI, Raleigh and Focus

Major Installs / Sales – 45 in all including:

  • Digital – including Indigo (5), Nexpress (3), Xerox (2), Ricoh (3), Canon (1), and Oce (1), Konica Minolta (3)
  • Wide format – 7 wide format machines, 3 cutters
  • Inkjet – Bluestar buys 2 HP T 300 (I think this a landmark sale), also On Demand with an Oce Colourstream 3500
  • Offset – only two offset presses (both Ryobi) and two KBA Genius 52 presses (waterless / UV)
  • Bindery – quite a few for digital and offset businesses

This is really a sign of the times – closures and rationalisation, offset by new starts / growth in particular market segments, the rise and rise of digital printing installations, and the emergence of inkjet.

It shows no sign of abating, especially with the announcement on the 1 July of the voluntary liquidation of Australian Envelopes, and more sales from PrintEx.

In Ascent Partners Market Watch we also identify the businesses we have on the market (six at the moment, with around five new listings soon to be announced).

So if you are a buyer or a seller, or just want to get your business appraised, visit our web site to subscribe / register your interest or phone Richard Rasmussen – 0402 021 101