The agreement is separate to MK Masterwork’s existing worldwide partnership with Heidelberg. Masterwork is also Heidelberg’s biggest shareholder with an 8.5% stake.
The agreement with Wakefield-headquartered Pinheiros covers Europe, and will involve the Wakefield-headquartered promoting and selling MK’s range of die-cutters, foilers and folder-gluers including its Duopress range and large-format 145 die-cutter.
Pinheiros Post Press managing director Martin Mason said he was delighted at the new arrangement.
“Masterwork has a massive range of machines and they realised there was a big opportunity in Europe that was not currently being exploited," he said.
“I definitely see Masterwork as the challenger brand to Bobst in terms of firepower and innovation.”
Masterwork general manager Roy Xu said the fresh agreement with Pinheiros came about after “serious consideration and careful exploration”.
“MK and Pinheiros’ agency agreement is another strategic cooperation besides the global partnership with Heidelberg,” he said.
“Unity makes infinite power, and cooperation leads us to success. We are convinced that cooperation will bring us new opportunities in a fiercely competitive market and will further strengthen our market position.”
Xu said he was excited about the future potential and described the Pinheiros team as “very professional”.
Mason said the business had already taken on a full-time MK technician with the expectation of growing the team as the customer base grows.
“We’ve already had customers saying they didn’t realise the breadth of the MK product range, so it’s an impressive start.”
He also said he was particularly excited about the potential for MK’s Duopress machines, which combine foil stamping, die-cutting, stripping and blanking in one pass.
“There’s not another machine on the market like it,” he added.
“The beauty is you’re not handling the job in-between processes so for top end work that’s an advantage.”
Mason also highlighted MK’s 1,450x1,080mm platen die-cutter as another potential star product for the firm due to its competitive price point and low lead time.
