The acquisition of Pitman, which is a supplier of pre-press, industrial inkjet, pressroom and packaging printing products and systems, will also add "numerous product lines" to Agfa's portfolio.

This includes flexographic printing plate systems for the packaging industry, pressroom products and value-added services, as well as a "vast range of media, new inks and wide-format printing systems" to complement Agfa's own industrial inkjet offering.

The acquisition follows rival Kodak's decision to make Xpedx its primary US reseller for its commercial pre-press products, plus the subsequent termination of Pitman's right to distribute Kodak products.

Both deals mark a growing trend towards sole partner agreements between manufacturers and US-based resellers.

Last month, Heidelberg announced an alliance between its US subsidiary and the American paper and logistics company Unisource to bundle its Saphira-branded consumables with the latter's paper.