Imex Printing Inks B.V. in Maastricht (Limburg) has been declared bankrupt by the court in Den-Haag. The insolvency number of this case is F.09/15/101.

The Maastricht-based firm has a history dating back a century to the foundation of pigment maker Ten Horn Chemistry in 1916, but has changed ownership a number of times in recent years.

It manufactured heatset inks using what was descri-bed as a “unique” extrusion process, and supplied customers across Europe as well as in South America and Asia Pacific.

Imex Inks was declared bankrupt on 26 July. The firm ceased trading with immediate effect.

One ink expert said: “This failure is due to prevailing conditions in the heatset market and has been anticipated for some time. Imex has been through so many ownership changes and this is the latest in a long line of financial problems at the company.”

Previous owners of the Imex business include Ciba-Geigy and BASF.  The Imex Inks website lists Miguel Boesten as the firm’s managing director.

The number of employees was not disclosed and it’s not clear whether there will be an attempt to resurrect the business.