Heidelberg is taking 100% ownership of Gallus in a deal that will see Gallus owner Ferdinand Rüesch become Heidelberg’s largest single shareholder.
Heidelberg acquired a 30% stake in family-owned Gallus in 1999, and part of the deal included the option to eventually buy the rest of the label and packaging press specialist.
It has now agreed a deal with Gallus owner Ferdinand Rüesch AG, which will swap its 70% stake in Gallus for new shares in Heidelberg, taking a 9% stake in the press manufacturer as a result.
The deal also includes an unspecified cash payment of less than $13.63m. The new Heidelberg shares will have a face value of at least $3.68 depending on the finalisation of the deal. Heidelberg’s existing shares slipped slightly on the news, by 1.19%, to $3.5.
Switzerland-headquartered Gallus had sales of CHF188 m last year, and employs around 500 staff worldwide. Its product range includes label presses, folding carton presses, and rotary screen printing systems.
As part of Heidelberg’s fresh push into the digital printing market the two companies are working on a hybrid conventional/inkjet label press based on the Gallus ECS340 platform, which is set to be shown for the first time this autumn.
At Heidelberg’s recent briefing on its plans for inkjet, chief executive had Gerold Linzbach had reiterated the group’s plan to take control of Gallus.
He said: “We are completely consolidating the company and are in discussions how this is going to pan out, including detailed profit sharing models.”