R&D possibilities 'amazing'

Duplo looks to the future with Multigraf buy

31 May 2024

Mergers and acquisitions

Left to right: Picquet, Barrer, Hashiguchi, Multigraf CEO Patric Lerch, and Duplo Corporation president Hideo Tanaka

Duplo Seiko, part of the Duplo Group, has bought Swiss multi-finisher equipment manufacturer Multigraf as it looks to continue to expand its portfolio and leverage the two firms R&D capabilities.

The deal was signed yesterday in hall 6 on day three of the show (30 May). Terms were not disclosed.

Duplo Seiko CEO and president Hideki Hashiguchi said the deal would "enable both Duplo and Multigraf to accelerate future technological developments as well as providing a stronger support to our customers".

Multigraf was founded in 1984 by the father of current chairman Robert Barrer.

The company will continue to trade under the Multigraf name from its headquarters in Switzerland and Barrer will remain on the board to ensure a seamless transition. Barrer will also continue to lead Schneider & Co, the Swiss distributor of Multigraf and Duplo kit.

Speaking at the show, Marine Kerivel-Brown, head of international marketing at Duplo International, said: “For anyone outside they probably won’t notice any change. Multigraf is a strong brand in our industry and a lot of Duplo International distributors also distribute Multigraf.”

The companies, which are within sightline of each other at Drupa, have known and worked together for almost 40 years.

In the UK, Duplo has been the exclusive reseller of the Multigraf’s range finishing equipment including its Touchline cut/crease/perf/fold units for a number of years.

Speaking at the show, Bruno Picquet, Duplo International CEO and chairman, said while the companies already had a strong cultural fit, the most exciting aspect of the deal was the prospect of Multigraf’s Swiss R&D engineers and their Duplo counterparts in Japan working hand in glove to develop new technology.

"That prospect is just amazing,” he said.

While Kerivel-Brown wouldn’t be drawn on any other potential acquisition targets, she said: “For anyone that came to the Duplo stand eight years ago at the last Drupa then the transformation has been huge, and I expect it will no different in four years’ time.

“Eight years ago, we didn’t have embellishment, now we have a whole embellishment and packaging factory line. Our systems are much smarter, the whole connectivity, workflow automation just wasn’t there before. And now we don’t just have B3, we have B2 and B1 – we are massively evolving as we align with the market, and that is only going to continue.”