The new funds will enable the business to continue to implement its ambitious growth strategy, with particular focus on developing its portfolio of printing inks and global growth.
The Germany-headquartered firm manufactures standard process and special application offset inks and UV inks as well as its BoFood Organic range of packaging inks suitable for direct food contact. Epple has been focusing on the global marketing of this range in recent years, taking a 40% share in UK-based sales partner Pulse Printing Products in 2018 and signing a deal with Sun Chemical in 2019 licensing it to market the inks.
More recently growth has focused on expanding its portfolio of products, with Epple completing a takeover of Dutch printing chemical manufacturer PCO Europe in 2020 after holding shares in the firm since 2018.
Epple Druckfarben said it believed the additional financial resources will give the business a commercially sustainable and future-oriented foothold in the global printing inks market.
The company told Printweek the new financing is long-term and based on both bank and private funds, as Epple Druckfarben is 100% owned by a family.
It said the aim of the financing is to further develop its global sales activities in the commercial and packaging markets. It will use the financial resources to grow its sales mainly in the US, as well as some European markets like France and Italy.
In December last year, Epple added its voice to a raft of suppliers warning of the impact of market conditions, saying that it would be forced to increase prices on 1 February 2022 in response to what it called “increasingly difficult” global supply chain conditions including raw materials, packaging and shipping.
At the time Epple’s Stefan Schülling, executive board member for sales and finance, said that cost-reduction measures implemented by the firm during the pandemic had not been enough for it to continue to operate profitably.
He added: “We hope for an economically strong printing industry, which is only possible if market prices are adequate. This applies to printing inks, paper and of course, also to the finished print products.”
