Komori Corporation has signed an agreement with Germany-based MBO Group to acquire 100% of its stake and make it a Komori subsidiary. MBO Group specializes in the manufacture and sale of postpress equipment. The transaction will expand Komori’s portfolio to include postpress solutions for commercial printing. This information is voluntarily disclosed by Komori, as it does not fall under Tokyo Stock Exchange’s timely disclosure standards.
Since its founding in 1923, the Komori Group has been engaged in the manufacture and sale of offset printing presses. Although the group has developed the offset printing press business as its core operation, it is currently pushing ahead with transforming its business structure under the Sixth Medium-Term Management Plan (April 2019 – March 2024) in line with the plan’s key strategy aimed at expanding Komori’s range of marketing.
In particular, Komori has been focused on developing the Print Engineering Service Provider (PESP) business since 2009. To embody the PESP business approach, Komori launched the marketing of paper cutters, die-cutters, blanking machines, pile turning machines and other postpress equipment that supports package printing. These products are greatly helping resolve major issues printing companies are now confronting, such as labor shortages.　
MBO Group was founded in 1965 to manufacture paper folding machines, a type of machinery that performs an important postpress process. The group has operated in this field for more than half a century since then, successfully commanding a considerable market share in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. Today, the MBO Group boasts of plants in two locations in Germany (Oppenweiler in southern Germany and Bielefeld in central Germany) as well as in Portugal. It also operates local subsidiaries in the United States, France and China while maintaining collaboration with a variety of sales partners in countries around the globe. Taking full advantage of these networks, the MBO Group is currently engaged in the marketing of paper folding machines and the provision of after-sales services in more than 60 countries.
Products manufactured by the MBO Group are known for highly precise performance and superior productivity. The group is distinguished by its technological capabilities in multiple fields, including paper folding for general commercial printing and inline processing employing a combination of paper folding machines and digital printing systems (DPS). Furthermore, Herzog+Heymann, a subsidiary of the MBO Group, boasts machinery designed to perform a complex folding process that handles thin paper and requires specialized technology unmatched by competitors. In recent years, the MBO Group also launched collaboration with robot makers, resulting in the creation of labor-saving systems as part of the MBO Group product lineup.
In addition, the MBO Group’s operations do not overlap with those undertaken by Komori. Through the acquisition of the equity stake in the MBO Group, Komori expects to be able to market unique products that will support its PESP business. Specifically, the inclusion of the aforementioned operations into Komori’s business portfolio will help it introduce post-press solutions for commercial printing, a new field for the company. When coupled with IoT-based cloud solutions, KP-Connect Komori is promoting on a global basis, the MBO Group’s products will also help provide customers with even more robust, seamless printing production systems that include post-press processing. Komori is also looking to develop new solutions through the combination of the MBO Group’s technologies and Komori’s DPS, offset printing presses and other key products.
Komori believes that both companies are well-positioned to supplement each other. Going forward, Komori will strive to bring together technologies and networks possessed by both companies in the field of post-press equipment marketing. In these ways, Komori will effectively push ahead with its initiatives aimed at transforming its business structure.
As the share transfer is scheduled for 1 April 2020, it will have a negligible impact on Komori’s consolidated operating results for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2020.
