The Siris Capital Group, which owns EFI, has signed an agreement with Agfa to combine Agfa’s Digital Print Solutions business with EFI. Siris will own 60% of the combined group, with Agfa holding the remaining 40%. Supposedly, the governance structure of this combined group will treat Siris and Agfa as equal partners.
The two companies already have a reciprocal agreement to each rebadge two of the other’s wide format printers, dating back to early 2024. Pascal Juéry, CEO of Agfa, told me at that time that the arrangement was not a precursor for any kind of merger, but rather about allowing each company to close a gap in their portfolios, making the same point again this time around.
So I asked him what had changed now in 2026 and he explained: “Today, we believe that we need scale in order to offer a full digital printing solution to various end markets. And this is what we achieve with the combination. We also believe we have complementary competences, geographical presence and compatible culture. So, this is also about the possibility to accelerate value creation for all our stakeholders.”
He continued, “Sign and display markets are still growing in terms of square meters, but this is done with more productive machines, which might lead to think the market does not grow when expressed in number of units. But the underlying growth is still there. Packaging and decor markets will also grow materially, after the consolidation phase currently happening in the packaging market post Covid boom. So we remain very bullish on these markets. So for Agfa this is about accelerating our growth and value creation through the combination with synergies between €40 to €50 million.”
Agfa still sees digital print as part of its strategy for growth. The company’s recent financial results show that its DPS business has recovered from the covid setback, and the commercial availability of its Speedset Orca single pass press should pick up some of the digital print packaging market. But Agfa is still a relatively small player in the wider print market so partnering with EFI gives it much greater scale, particularly in the packaging market, as well as better access to the US market.
It’s harder to evaluate EFI since it is no longer publicly listed so there is no requirement to report financial data. But all private equity firms ultimately buy companies with a view to reorganizing them to sell at a profit. Siris has managed to hive off the EPS and Fiery businesses from EFI, as well as selling the CretaPrint division. But it’s much harder to see who might want to buy the remaining EFI business. So Siris may be betting that partnering with Agfa will give it more than just scale, since Agfa comes with its own single pass inkjet technology and excellent ink chemistry, including the single pass aqueous printing that has so far proven difficult for EFI to master with the Nozomi. Agfa even has its own workflow software in Asanti, not to mention better access to the European market.
The joint statement from the two companies says that together EFI and Agfa DPS expect to generate approximately €540 million, or $625 million of revenue in 2026 on a pro forma basis. Agfa reported revenues for the DPS business of €193 million or roughly $218 million, for the year ending 2025. That suggests that EFI’s revenues are closer to €345 million or $390 million.
Frank Pennisi, CEO of EFI, commented, “This combination is a natural next step that allows us to build on that momentum with a broader platform, accelerating innovation and expanding the solutions we can deliver to customers across industrial inkjet.”
Separately, Siris has acquired the 19.08% stake in Agfa-Gevaert NV that was previously owned by the private equity firm Active Ownership Capital S.à.r.l, though this acquisition is contingent on the combined EFI/ Agfa DPS deal completing. This shareholding makes Siris the largest shareholder in Agfa-Gevaert and gives it a seat on Agfa’s board.
Frank Baker, co-founder and managing partner of Siris, commented taking this stake, “Agfa is a company with nearly 160 years of history, differentiated technical expertise and leading positions across attractive end markets. Through our work with the Agfa team on the EFI-Agfa DPS combination, we have gained an even deeper appreciation for the strength of the business, the quality of its people and the significant opportunities ahead. We are excited to deepen our partnership with Agfa and to serve as a constructive shareholder as the company continues to invest in its growth businesses and build on the transformation underway across the company.”
The two companies have yet to agree a name for the combined entity though Juéry told me that they would look to retain their brand names. This deal should close by the end of 2026, depending on clearing the usual regulatory steps. You can find further details on both companies from efi.com and agfa.com.
An earlier press release version of this story was published on 29 September
