Screen pays a bundle for the Inca gold

The purchase offers further evidence of the faith invested in the future potential of ink-jet technology, with Screen targeting the markets for industrial printing and packaging. Inca will operate from Cambridge as a standalone division of the firm, maintaining its strategic partnerships with Fujifilm Sericol and Sun Chemical.

Gary Seidl from Screen Australia claims the purchase will have little effect on how the Inca machines are brought to the local market. “For Screen, the purchase is part of a process of acquiring new technologies, and represents part of our new move into ink-jet technologies,” he says. “Initially at least, these developments will have no effect on how Inca's products are marketed Australia.”

Inca managing director Bill Baxter has also given his seal of approval to the purchase. “Screen is a great parent for us,” he says. “There is a real synergy between us, and the acquisition will enable us to develop profitable applications in totally new areas.”