Management buyout for manroland sheetfed factory

The plan to split the company into three divisions put forward by major German trading and manufacturing group, L. Possehl & Co. mbH, has won the approval of the manroland administrator.

manroland’s Offenbach sheetfed printing systems site is to be restructured in the form of a management buyout under the planned three-way split of the company as part of its ongoing insolvency proceedings. The web press manufacturing site at Augsburg, where the IPMG and PMP 96-page presses are being made, will be acquired by L. Possehl &Co.

Plauen, the third manufacturing site that was restructured last year as a parts and component manufacturer, will also be launched as a separate company.

The sheetfed plant management buyout is conditional on the cooperation of an investor and a county bank guarantee, but Steve Dunwell, managing director of manroland Australia, is fairly confident it will proceed.

“I’m really pleased with the outcome. It’s the best arrangement and assures our web press customers of a good long-term future,” he said. “We’ll have to wait to see how the Offenbach sheetfed buyout goes, but it’s got government backing and I think it will continue.”

He said any restructuring of the local company would depend on the outcome of the MBO negotiations. “I told my staff to expect significant restructuring and job losses in Germany next week. So far we haven’t had to restructure here but that may change,” he said.

Under the new planned structure, the Augsburg site, owned by Possehl & Co, will employ 1473 people, while the Offenbach site will be the centre of worldwide distribution with 750 personnel engaged in distribution and selling in the US, Asian and European regions. The Plauen factory with 290 employees will depend on its long-term supply contract with Augsburg, as well as Offenbach if the MBO goes ahead.

According to the company’s insolvency administrator, Dr Werner Schneider, the planned management buyout of the Offenbach site has a solid economical basis and good future perspectives.

“It is a common goal to pass the company on to investors that are interested in long-term and independent continuation of the company,” said Schneider. “In effect, the second round is starting now for Offenbach.”

As for the Augsburg site, Dr Schneider said that Possehl & Co. offered, “the most sustainable solution and it has been in everyone’s interest to find a long lasting solution that enables a self-managed continuation of the company.”

Possehl & Co is a large diversified manufacturing and trading company, founded in 1847, owned by a Trust and headquartered in Lübeck.