John Penhallow03.04.21
Heidelberg is Europe’s best-known maker of printing machinery, and its 100% subsidiary Gallus is among the continent’s leading manufacturers of narrow web presses. There was surprise in the industry when Heidelberg announced in mid-2020 that it was to sell off Gallus, in which it acquired a controlling interest just six years previously. In this column your correspondent asked, “What is Heidelberg up to?” thus suggesting that cash-strapped Heidelberg maybe needed the money and that the sale price of $130 million would be a welcome boost to its balance sheet.
The buyer was a Swiss company called benpac, and the payment date was scheduled for the end of December 2020, then put back to the end of January of this year. On settlement day came the electroshock: no money, no deal but many red faces at Heidelberg.
Failed deals are frequent, but this one looks particularly juicy, given the mystery surrounding the buyer, benpac, and its owner, a certain Marco Corvi. benpac exists, no doubt about that: it has a head office in Stans, Switzerland and a US office on 5th Avenue, New York. A visit to its website www.benpac.com reveals a packaging group with 38 companies worldwide, 3,650 employees and total sales of CHF 750 million ($840 million) per year.
We learn that: “benpac holding ag ... brings together leading companies from the packaging sector, enabling it to provide comprehensive solutions tailored to each customer and meeting all modern packaging requirements...thanks to its carefully considered group structure, including mechanical engineering and injection molding companies, printing machine manufacturers, engineering firms and more.”
When we search for more detail on the products displayed, we are stopped by the message “this page can’t be found.” We do, however, have the addresses of all 38 benpac group companies, including benpac Maschinenbau whose address is given as Harzbüchelstrasse 3, in Saint Gallen. Sound familiar? Yes, that’s where Gallus hangs out! So, let’s call that 37 not 38.
Could it be that a major company like Heidelberg was taken for a ride? The company’s advisors include DLA Piper, one of the largest law firms in the world. DLA Piper has confirmed Heidelberg’s statement that it conducted the transaction process “in accordance with customary standards.”
Reputable advisors, including GCA and Baker-McKenzie, were also involved in the run-up to the failed acquisition. Shortly before the debacle, Morton Reitoft, editor of Inkish News, asked the question: “How can GCA Altium and Baker-McKenzie not have made a thorough background-check on benpac and Marco Corvi? If this ends up being a scam, both must be held liable.”
The same source reports unflatteringly on Corvi’s character and career. While stating that Corvi has never been convicted of any offense, Reitoft tells a story of asset-stripping and a wake of debts and unpaid salaries: “Sub-contractor after sub-contractor have reached out to us, and tell stories about unpaid invoices - even for relatively small amounts – left due until the last minute before being declared bankrupt – a pattern confirmed by several sources.”
Let’s move on to February 1 of this year. Heidelberg announced that no money had been received and that the deal was off. Its share price took a 14% tumble, and its senior managers were looking very sheepish. A spokesman could only declare lamely, “We can assure that Heidelberg carefully managed the entire transaction process at every stage in accordance with the usual standards – this also includes checking the solvency of the purchaser.”
Asked by Christopher Gilb of the Swiss newspaper Der Bote why he failed to pay up, Corvi reportedly blamed hostile media coverage focused on himself and his company: “The reactions from the market, but also from the Gallus companies themselves, were so strong that a successful implementation had to be called into question.”
This has been a story where all parties finished with egg on their faces – except, apparently, Mr. Corvi himself, whose website confirms he is finalizing plans to acquire OMV Machinery srl in Verona, Italy. There is a moral here somewhere. Work it out for yourself.
Passport to Paradise…or Poland?
For the past 35 years, British passports have been colored red and marked “European Union, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” Early in 2020, the British government proudly announced its new “post-Brexit” passport. Back came the “true blue” of the passports older Britons could still remember, as a symbol of Paradise Regained. The prestigious contract for printing them was practically in the bag for UK-based security printer De La Rue.
Alas, in the final sprint, the Franco-Dutch print group Gemalto nosed ahead and won itself a 10-year contract worth around $300 million. De La Rue’s chief executive Martin Sutherland said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision. And to add insult to injury, Gemalto is to print the passports in Poland. At least they’ll still be blue.
Graphic papers continue downwards
Total deliveries of graphic papers in Europe had a bad year in 2020, with average monthly volumes of just 1.9 million tons, over 20% down on the previous year (which in turn was 8% down on 2018). As usual, label papers were the bright spot in a dull market.
However, some producers are price-cutting furiously to preserve market share: cast-coated paper prices are reportedly stable but single-face coated label papers were down by an average of $50 per ton over the year.
From Greenland’s icy mountains
Greenland rarely gets a mention in the label and packaging press. In fact, it has rarely ever gotten a mention anywhere except when a US president offered to buy it. For the present, this huge piece of real estate is still Danish and is the inspiration for fjord-bottled water under the brand Nuuk. Designed by Sidel, the curious bottle shape is said to “give the impression that the bottle is surging up from the ice.”
The transparent labels come in five variants, all inspired by authentic Viking art, more specifically by the Borre style. In case any readers are not up to speed on the Borre culture, it is a 10th century Viking art form using geometric interlacing, knot patterns and zoomorphic motifs.
Nothing like a Dane
It is a surprise to many people that Denmark (thanks to Greenland) is the biggest county in Europe. It is also home to label press manufacturer Nilpeter’s whose sales manager Jakob Landberg (see interview below) is optimistic about present and future prospects. The recent sale of an 8-color flexo press to Sweden’s Strongpoint Labels is the company’s latest sales success. Another equipment maker in a bullish mood is ABG. In December 2020, the maker of finishing equipment installed two lines in Germany and plans to beef up its German-language sales force.
Britain out on a limb – or on a roll?
The divorce between Britain and the European Union (EU), hurriedly signed and sealed in late December 2020, has avoided most of the threatened chaos in goods trade to and from the island kingdom. Goods are shipped duty and tariff free, but customs formalities, in particular the need for country-of-origin certifications, are churning up the already murky waters of the English Channel. Labelstock exports to the UK, for instance, must now show evidence that the face material, liner, silicone and adhesive are all “Made in EU.”
Adhering to the “Made in EU” mandate is not a problem for the bigger international companies, however it is a headache for smaller organizations on both sides of the English Channel. And with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, headaches of all kinds are what Europe can well do without!
Jakob Landberg, Nilpeter’s sales and marketing director, reflects on the ups and downs of 2020 with columnist John Penhallow.
L&NW: What was your darkest moment in 2020?
Jakob Landberg: We actually had a “nice” surprise on March 11, 2020, when the Danish prime-minister came on TV late in the evening and closed the country! That evening I was out with UK customers – and had to walk home as the public transportation was shut down.
L&NW: Apart from that unplanned physical exercise, how did you cope with the global slowdown?
JL: We managed to run close to full power to support customers and deliver the orders as agreed – and managed to utilize our global support system to install all the machines sold, using local resources. But many customers froze orders and many stopped all investment projects. This made us look very carefully at the fixed costs across our three manufacturing sites in Denmark, USA and India. All three factories kept running throughout every lockdown in 2020, and we managed to ride
out the storm.
L&NW: Did things remain critical throughout the year?
JL: In summer 2020 the investments started to appear again, along with the growth and new opportunities in the label and flexible packaging market. Investment brakes were eased and orders came in – label and packaging buyers accelerated purchasing. Our statistics showed a strong growth in consumables in our customers’ industries.
L&NW: So much the better for your existing customers. But what about new business? You can’t sell presses by just cold-calling by telephone or email, can you?
J.L.: We adopted Zoom as our demo tool and carried out many online presentations and customer meetings, and we even managed Factory Press Acceptance (FAT) via direct video link to customers. We have also won brand new clients, for example in the pharma industry, based on our strong in-house design and manufacturing possibilities. The result is that we managed to turn the challenges into new and very exciting market/product potential.
The buyer was a Swiss company called benpac, and the payment date was scheduled for the end of December 2020, then put back to the end of January of this year. On settlement day came the electroshock: no money, no deal but many red faces at Heidelberg.
Failed deals are frequent, but this one looks particularly juicy, given the mystery surrounding the buyer, benpac, and its owner, a certain Marco Corvi. benpac exists, no doubt about that: it has a head office in Stans, Switzerland and a US office on 5th Avenue, New York. A visit to its website www.benpac.com reveals a packaging group with 38 companies worldwide, 3,650 employees and total sales of CHF 750 million ($840 million) per year.
We learn that: “benpac holding ag ... brings together leading companies from the packaging sector, enabling it to provide comprehensive solutions tailored to each customer and meeting all modern packaging requirements...thanks to its carefully considered group structure, including mechanical engineering and injection molding companies, printing machine manufacturers, engineering firms and more.”
When we search for more detail on the products displayed, we are stopped by the message “this page can’t be found.” We do, however, have the addresses of all 38 benpac group companies, including benpac Maschinenbau whose address is given as Harzbüchelstrasse 3, in Saint Gallen. Sound familiar? Yes, that’s where Gallus hangs out! So, let’s call that 37 not 38.
Could it be that a major company like Heidelberg was taken for a ride? The company’s advisors include DLA Piper, one of the largest law firms in the world. DLA Piper has confirmed Heidelberg’s statement that it conducted the transaction process “in accordance with customary standards.”
Reputable advisors, including GCA and Baker-McKenzie, were also involved in the run-up to the failed acquisition. Shortly before the debacle, Morton Reitoft, editor of Inkish News, asked the question: “How can GCA Altium and Baker-McKenzie not have made a thorough background-check on benpac and Marco Corvi? If this ends up being a scam, both must be held liable.”
The same source reports unflatteringly on Corvi’s character and career. While stating that Corvi has never been convicted of any offense, Reitoft tells a story of asset-stripping and a wake of debts and unpaid salaries: “Sub-contractor after sub-contractor have reached out to us, and tell stories about unpaid invoices - even for relatively small amounts – left due until the last minute before being declared bankrupt – a pattern confirmed by several sources.”
Let’s move on to February 1 of this year. Heidelberg announced that no money had been received and that the deal was off. Its share price took a 14% tumble, and its senior managers were looking very sheepish. A spokesman could only declare lamely, “We can assure that Heidelberg carefully managed the entire transaction process at every stage in accordance with the usual standards – this also includes checking the solvency of the purchaser.”
Asked by Christopher Gilb of the Swiss newspaper Der Bote why he failed to pay up, Corvi reportedly blamed hostile media coverage focused on himself and his company: “The reactions from the market, but also from the Gallus companies themselves, were so strong that a successful implementation had to be called into question.”
This has been a story where all parties finished with egg on their faces – except, apparently, Mr. Corvi himself, whose website confirms he is finalizing plans to acquire OMV Machinery srl in Verona, Italy. There is a moral here somewhere. Work it out for yourself.
Passport to Paradise…or Poland?
For the past 35 years, British passports have been colored red and marked “European Union, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” Early in 2020, the British government proudly announced its new “post-Brexit” passport. Back came the “true blue” of the passports older Britons could still remember, as a symbol of Paradise Regained. The prestigious contract for printing them was practically in the bag for UK-based security printer De La Rue.
Alas, in the final sprint, the Franco-Dutch print group Gemalto nosed ahead and won itself a 10-year contract worth around $300 million. De La Rue’s chief executive Martin Sutherland said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision. And to add insult to injury, Gemalto is to print the passports in Poland. At least they’ll still be blue.
Graphic papers continue downwards
Total deliveries of graphic papers in Europe had a bad year in 2020, with average monthly volumes of just 1.9 million tons, over 20% down on the previous year (which in turn was 8% down on 2018). As usual, label papers were the bright spot in a dull market.
However, some producers are price-cutting furiously to preserve market share: cast-coated paper prices are reportedly stable but single-face coated label papers were down by an average of $50 per ton over the year.
From Greenland’s icy mountains
Greenland rarely gets a mention in the label and packaging press. In fact, it has rarely ever gotten a mention anywhere except when a US president offered to buy it. For the present, this huge piece of real estate is still Danish and is the inspiration for fjord-bottled water under the brand Nuuk. Designed by Sidel, the curious bottle shape is said to “give the impression that the bottle is surging up from the ice.”
The transparent labels come in five variants, all inspired by authentic Viking art, more specifically by the Borre style. In case any readers are not up to speed on the Borre culture, it is a 10th century Viking art form using geometric interlacing, knot patterns and zoomorphic motifs.
Nothing like a Dane
It is a surprise to many people that Denmark (thanks to Greenland) is the biggest county in Europe. It is also home to label press manufacturer Nilpeter’s whose sales manager Jakob Landberg (see interview below) is optimistic about present and future prospects. The recent sale of an 8-color flexo press to Sweden’s Strongpoint Labels is the company’s latest sales success. Another equipment maker in a bullish mood is ABG. In December 2020, the maker of finishing equipment installed two lines in Germany and plans to beef up its German-language sales force.
Britain out on a limb – or on a roll?
The divorce between Britain and the European Union (EU), hurriedly signed and sealed in late December 2020, has avoided most of the threatened chaos in goods trade to and from the island kingdom. Goods are shipped duty and tariff free, but customs formalities, in particular the need for country-of-origin certifications, are churning up the already murky waters of the English Channel. Labelstock exports to the UK, for instance, must now show evidence that the face material, liner, silicone and adhesive are all “Made in EU.”
Adhering to the “Made in EU” mandate is not a problem for the bigger international companies, however it is a headache for smaller organizations on both sides of the English Channel. And with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, headaches of all kinds are what Europe can well do without!
Jakob Landberg, Nilpeter’s sales and marketing director, reflects on the ups and downs of 2020 with columnist John Penhallow.
L&NW: What was your darkest moment in 2020?
Jakob Landberg: We actually had a “nice” surprise on March 11, 2020, when the Danish prime-minister came on TV late in the evening and closed the country! That evening I was out with UK customers – and had to walk home as the public transportation was shut down.
L&NW: Apart from that unplanned physical exercise, how did you cope with the global slowdown?
JL: We managed to run close to full power to support customers and deliver the orders as agreed – and managed to utilize our global support system to install all the machines sold, using local resources. But many customers froze orders and many stopped all investment projects. This made us look very carefully at the fixed costs across our three manufacturing sites in Denmark, USA and India. All three factories kept running throughout every lockdown in 2020, and we managed to ride
out the storm.
L&NW: Did things remain critical throughout the year?
JL: In summer 2020 the investments started to appear again, along with the growth and new opportunities in the label and flexible packaging market. Investment brakes were eased and orders came in – label and packaging buyers accelerated purchasing. Our statistics showed a strong growth in consumables in our customers’ industries.
L&NW: So much the better for your existing customers. But what about new business? You can’t sell presses by just cold-calling by telephone or email, can you?
J.L.: We adopted Zoom as our demo tool and carried out many online presentations and customer meetings, and we even managed Factory Press Acceptance (FAT) via direct video link to customers. We have also won brand new clients, for example in the pharma industry, based on our strong in-house design and manufacturing possibilities. The result is that we managed to turn the challenges into new and very exciting market/product potential.