Goss and Heidelberg get the deal over the line

The culmination of long months of haggling since Bernard Schreier announced the decision to get out of web press manufacturing last December, means Goss International emerges as likely the largest web offset press manufacturer in the world. Both companies have signed and executed a contract that transfers substantially all assets of Heidelberg’s Web Systems associated with the newspaper and commercial web press business, as well as the high volume post press activities.

Both companies have industry leading positions in the web print market in Australia and New Zealand, and Goss will almost certainly be the largest player in the region. At time of going to press neither Andy vels Jensen, managing director of Heidelberg Australia, or Peter Kirwan, managing director of Goss International (Australia) were available for comment. However industry observers do not expect precipitous action to merge the two operations here where Heidelberg has the larger service staff.

The combined entity will have operations in North America, Europe and the Asia/Pacific region and will have approximately 4,000 employees focused on web offset. The companies agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.

"This agreement is an important, active step in the consolidation process within this industry," said Bernhard Schreier. "By combining and restructuring activities, both companies are aiming for better capacity utilization, along with optimized market penetration due to the resulting enhanced product portfolio," said Dr. Herbert Meyer, CFO of Heidelberg.

The transfer of Heidelberg's web offset activities to Goss International will affect more than 2,000 Heidelberg employees at sites mainly in the US, France and Netherlands.

Heidelberg entered the web offset business by acquiring Harris Graphic Corporation in 1988. Through the acquisition of the Dutch company Stork Contiweb in 1996, Heidelberg has also been able to offer splicers and dryers in this market segment. In the same year, Heidelberg extended its portfolio to offer finishing systems for web offset machines by acquiring Sheridan Systems (USA and Great Britain).

In fiscal year 2003/2004, Heidelberg's web offset sales amounted to 376 million Euro. This corresponds to roughly ten percent of the group's total sales (3.661 billion Euro).

Bob Brown, CEO of Goss International, stated, "We at Goss are very excited about the acquisition. The combined product platforms, technology portfolio, global operations and team of professionals around the world provide us a great opportunity to create value for our customers. This is an exciting day for Goss International. The acquisition gives us the opportunity to integrate two of the best teams in the industry and build a company focused on the web offset sector."