Xaar acquires Megnajet for accelerated growth

Improved time to market for inkjet developers & integrators 

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Xaar-CIMS II
Xaar-CIMS II recirculation ink delivery system in test Photo Xaar

Cambridge, 3 March 2022 – Xaar has completed the acquisition of Megnajet, one of the market leaders in the design and manufacture of industrial ink management and supply systems for digital inkjet. The company says the deal accelerates its growth strategy of offering customers, particularly User Developer Integrators (UDIs), greater integration across inkjet solutions through access to more of the printing ecosystem, such as ink supply systems and electronics.

Megnajet designs and manufactures some of the most integrated and compact ink management and supply systems. Its broad product range will form part of Xaar’s inkjet solutions portfolio, helping UDI customers reduce development timescales and shorten their time to market, while also attracting a broader range of commercial opportunities for the business.

John Mills CEO of Xaar Photo Xaar
John Mills CEO of Xaar Photo Xaar

In addition, Xaar says the acquisition will enable Megnajet to focus on growth through new developments and shared expertise across the group. Megnajet will be headed by Mike Seal as its new general manager. Seal re-joins the business having previously been Xaar’s head of Advanced Applications.
Megnajet’s Technical director, Graham Strudwick, becomes the Xaar Group’s new director of System Component Integration, bringing his expertise to the wider business while still retaining the responsibilities from his previous role.

John Mills, CEO of Xaar, said, “This acquisition demonstrates further progress of our growth strategy as we focus on offering our customers a more integrated inkjet solution. As well as enhancing Xaar’s world class inkjet expertise, Megnajet’s excellent reputation within the inkjet industry for delivering compact and easy to integrate products will ensure we can attract new opportunities through providing a more rounded approach for our customers.

Mike Seal, general manager, Megnajet Photo Xaar
Mike Seal, general manager, Megnajet Photo Xaar

“Xaar has worked with Megnajet for several years, so this acquisition is a great addition to our business. We are delighted to welcome everyone at Megnajet into the Xaar Group.”
Mike Seal commented, “I’m looking forward to working with the team to continue Megnajet’s focus in helping its customers get their products to market more quickly. Now, as part of Xaar, we will have the expertise, resources and technologies to develop our ink management and supply systems even further, benefiting our customers and growing the Megnajet business through this exciting integration.”

It is anticipated that the acquisition will contribute positively to earnings in 2022, and to the long-term profitable growth in Xaar’s core printhead business.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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