A cash crisis at US-based pre-press and digital print group Unidigital will not affect its UK subsidiary Elements, according to group commercial director Ian Randell.



He said: "Elements runs as standalone operation. The focus in the UK under Tony Manser has been exclusively on building the UK operation into a strong business."




Group sales director John Salozzo added: "The UK market is very different in the US on-demand digital has been slow to be adopted."




Unidigital is set to sell its media solutions division following its inability to repay interest charges. During the past year it was hit by crippling debts as working capital fell from 2.4m to a deficit of 50m.




Last month the firm filed a third quarter loss of 146,000 ($217,000) despite a 48% increase in sales to 18m. The firms share price has collapsed over the last year from 4 to 25p.




A firm set-up by Unidigital chairman and chief executive William Dye and Ehud Aloni, the founder of Mega Art, the firm which Unidigital acquired to form the bulk of its media solutions division, is set to buy the division. The deal, which must be completed by today (Friday 25 August), will see the new firm pay 29m cash and take on 2.4m capital lease obligations. It will also take on 2m of debt linked to the German acquisition M Nur and transfer 2.2m Unidigital shares owned by the management of the acquiring firm. Sources close to the firm said that it may also consider selling its other division premedia services, which offers pre-press and short-run digital print.




Elements president and CEO and Unidigital vice president Tony Manser was called away to New York to discuss the sale of the media solutions division earlier this week just before he was due to meet PrintWeek.




Last month Elements bought repro house and digital printer CLE of St Ives Cambridgeshire. It now has sites in five areas from London to Scotland. In the UK it employs 220 people and has a projected turnover of 17m.




In the UK all Unidigital firms operate under the Elements name including its London-based large-format corporate print divisions.


Story by Barney Cox.