The deal was signed last Friday (6 October) and is expected to close around four weeks from that date as, due to formalities, the competition authorities in Germany have to approve the deal.
It is unlikely to be problematic in terms of competition due to the size of the two companies, professional advisers have told the businesses.
While presented as a merger, the deal will see Stibo Complete Group, founded in 1794, become the 100% owner of Eversfrank, which was founded in 1911. The ownership in Stibo will now be distributed among around 80% to the Stibo Foundation and 20% to the Evers family, who will remain a long-term investor.
The two former competitors said the aim of the merger is to become “the leading graphic supermarket in Northern Europe”.
They said that, together, the two companies can offer services “within the entire graphic value chain”, from development and design, financing through advertising sales, production, sourcing, and distribution “to the installation of physical and digital graphic solutions for inventory and logistics services”.
The two companies are “equally large”, with a combined annual turnover of €330m (£285m). Between them they have over 1,000 employees and production sites in Scandinavia and Germany. Stibo Complete Group also has a subsidiary called GigantPrint.
In a joint statement, Søren Henriksen, CEO of Stibo Complete Group, and Philipp Lerchner from Eversfrank Gruppe, who will become executive vice president in the new set-up, said: “The two businesses fit well together. There are obvious synergies and possibilities for us to win new orders and enjoy economy of scale.
“And there are many business opportunities today and in future – also although the printing market is gradually declining. In Scandinavia, our market share is below 10% today, and in Germany, the Eversfrank Gruppe has a market share of below 5%.”
They added: “Owing to the merger, our position is stronger than ever. We have modern production platforms, which supplement each other, we are close to our primary markets and not least we have more than 1,000 skilled and dedicated employees who deliver high quality services at competitive prices. Due to the merger, we are even better positioned for the future.”
Henriksen told Printweek today: “We have no current plans for workforce reductions. Customers determine the number of shifts all round.”
He added: “The Eversfrank name will be retained in Germany and Benelux. In Scandinavia, we will use the Stibo Complete name. We are a joint team with joint business systems and management. The goal is eternal ownership.”
As well as looking to increase market share in their own territories, the group is also targeting revenue growth from its UK customer base.
“Our turnover in the UK is in the order of €15m and increasing. We have plans to grow this revenue significantly. We have good prerequisites for developing our business in the UK based on our good network and relationships in the Stibo Group,” Henriksen said.
He added kit shared between the two businesses includes 16 heatset web offset machines, coldset offset, sheet-fed offset, dry-offset, digital printers, and large-format printers, plus “everything in bookbinding equipment and packaging/fulfillment/warehouse solutions”.
