Bradford-based Rialco, which had a turnover of £7.9m in 2014, has become part of EFI’s industrial inkjet business.
Stephen Emery, vice-president of EFI's ink business, told PrintWeek EFI had not been a Rialco customer prior to the acquisition but said the business supplies a lot of ink companies and formulators in industrial markets, including dye-sublimation printing.
“The ink business within EFI is a significant part of the business and a part that we want to grow and continue our innovation,” said Emery.
“We’re always looking to see what’s out there and it was as a result of us looking for technology to continue to grow and expand that we came across Rialco and identified it as a prospect.”
He added: “Water-based ink is a big focus for us going forward. In terms of how the acquisition is going to help us grow, the bottom line is Rialco are a leading supplier of purified dyes and other components in the marketplace in Europe and beyond.
“As a premier supplier, the ability, technology and experience Rialco have in sourcing, selecting and making sure that they supply high-quality products certainly helps us as we go forward and continue to expand our ink portfolio.”
Emery said the three current directors of Rialco will continue to run the business, with EFI providing support to help it grow. There will be no staffing changes, with the firm’s headcount remaining at around 15, and Rialco will remain based at its current 2,600sqm premises.
“As we look into future technologies that we’re working with, this acquisition will help us with the further development of inks that might use purified dyes,” said Emery.
“We also see it going beyond that in helping us to source other components and other types of dyes or pigments that we may use in some of our inks because Rialco are very strong technically and have some very strong sourcing knowledge.
“As an added plus, the wood colourant market is at the initial stages of the transition to digital and Rialco have some very strong colourant experience as well as experience with wood and timber companies that gives us the ability to start entering into that market.”
Rialco will operate as EFI Rialco from now on.
“This is so we can maintain and continue with their brand recognition in the marketplace and then leverage the EFI name,” Emery said.
Rialco co-founder Paul Davies added: “Being part of EFI gives us an important opportunity to continue growing our offerings as part of a leading developer of advanced industrial ink products.”
The terms of the acquisition, which was revealed earlier this week, were not disclosed and it is not expected to be material to EFI’s Q1 or full-year 2016 financial results.
Emery said EFI’s M&A team is continuing to look at additional acquisition opportunities in a range of sectors, including industrial inkjet.
Last year EFI acquired wide-format printer manufacturers Reggiani Macchine and Matan and MIS developer Shuttleworth Business Systems.
The business reported a 12% annual sales rise to $882.5m in its annual accounts for the year ending 31 December 2015.
