The manufacturer has acquired a controlling stage in Vanguard Digital Printing Systems, a US-based manufacturer of flatbed, roll-to-roll and high-speed single-pass printers.
According to the two companies, the deal, which completed yesterday (1 October) came about because there was a "mutual interest to expand into a new customer group and/or distribute worldwide".
"Vanguard's printing systems have rightly achieved rapid growth and high customer acceptance in the North American market," said Christoph Gamper, CEO and co-owner of the Durst Group.
“Despite the global pandemic, we are positioning ourselves for the long term and are determined to invest in the large-format graphics market.
"In addition, with our technical expertise, Vanguard will continue to ensure that its products and services are industry-leading and a wider customer base will understand what it is like to be part of the Durst family.”
Under the ownership of Italy-headquartered Durst, the business will be rebranded Vanguard Durst Digital Printing Systems. The Georgia-based business’s management team will remain and continue to be headed by CEO David Cich and vice-president of sales Jim Peterson.
Both companies hailed the deal as simultaneously boosting Durst's offering by adding dedicated flatbed printers and opening up Vanguard products to a wider global marketplace as until now they had only been available in the US.
According to Durst, it is targeting a Fespa timeline (March 2021) to introduce "certain models in selected territories".
Vanguard’s portfolio of UV flatbed and roll-to-roll printers is headed by two high-speed single-pass printers: the VSP2400 for rigid substrates and the VSP2400-RTR for roll-to-roll.
Both use more than 100 Konica Minolta 1024i heads. The rigid machine can produce boards of 1.25x2.6m and offers a production speed of more than 2,630sqm/hr, which mirrors the linear speed of the 1.25m-wide RTR.
"Vanguard Digital Printing Systems is a rapidly growing and very successful company in a customer segment in which we are currently not active," said Tim Saur, president of Durst North America.
"Through the combination of high-quality products, a strong management team and absolute customer orientation, both companies are a perfect match."
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
