"British company buys German engineering business". Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we'd be writing a variant on that headline.

That it's a British company without any obvious connections to our industry, and they are investing in a manufacturer of printing presses, makes for a double-gosh.

Yesterday's news was greeted with widespread amazement, the Langley Holdings swoop for Manroland's sheetfed business (and its worldwide distribution setup) truly came out of left field.

Why, given the very obvious travails affecting press manufacturers, and the question mark over the long-term picture for the heavy metal side of print kit, does Langley want to get involved in our industry? How long have they been looking into this? As one gobsmacked printing machinery veteran said to me yesterday: "Are they mad, bonkers, or completely bonkers?"

Looking at Langley's results, they appear to be anything but. Preliminary 2011 figures show turnover of ?516.6m, an operating margin of 13%, and ?240m in cash. This is a successful business of substance.

Manroland insiders, even those who don't yet know whether they fit into the new organisation or not, are understandably delighted at this news. It had looked like the sheetfed sale would be something of a fudge. Instead (assuming the deal is approved by the German cartel authorities) they have clarity and a clear ownership structure.

Perhaps Langley sees something in the potential for the Offenbach factory and global facilities it has acquired that we in the industry don't. This looks to be a strategic investment, intrigued to find out more about what the Brits plan for this venerable German business.

Along with everyone else on planet print, we've been trawling the interweb for information on  founder Tony Langley. And along with everyone else we've discovered that he's very rich, he likes sailing, and he's not a fan of trade fairs, per this Cranes Today article from a decade ago.

Can't wait to meet him at Drupa.