Responding to questions over the firm's rumoured takeover plans at the BPIF's Print Congress on Tuesday morning, Hibbert (pictured) told the conference that the creation of German gravure superpower Prinovis had pushed the entire industry towards consolidation.

"The gravure printers are not going to let Arvato [and Prinovis] steal a march and everybody's talking to everybody. We are considering buying and selling and if you're a betting man, we won't be what we are now in 12 months' time," he said.

Hibbert, talking in a head-to-head debate with European Rotogravure Association secretary general James Siever, added that in the European league table of gravure printers, "fourth place is no place to be".

Hibbert's comments follow months of speculation that Canadian-owned Quebecor World is in the running to buy the group.
Prinovis was formed earlier this year with the merger of the gravure capacity of Arvato, Axel Springer and Gruner+Jahr.

Hibbert added that niche companies would thrive in the future, but that web-offset printers with a turnover of 15m to 100m would have to look at consolidation to survive.

- Quebecor World's French Hlio-Corbeil plant is to cut its 256-strong workforce by 133 and close two 2.03m-wide Cerutti gravure presses.

Europe's top gravure firms
% of European total capacity (2004)
- Prinovis 24.7%
- Quebecor 10.4%
- Schlott 9.5%
- Polestar 8.8%
- TSB 6.4%
Figures do not include closure of Polestar Purnell or construction of Polestar Sheffield or Prinovis Liverpool
Source: ERA