Punch Graphix, the parent company of Xeikon and Basys Print, is in the process of being acquired by the Dutch private equity company NPM Capital. NPM Capital has made a non-binding offer of €4.65/share to acquire the 66.37% of the Punch Graphix capital currently owned by Punch International. This values Punch Graphix at €133 million. NPM is currently in the process of due diligence and in the event it acquires the capital it will be obliged to put forward a mandatory public offer to acquire the remainder of the share capital that is in the public domain. It is understood that NPM Capital hopes to complete the process to acquire the capital from Punch International before the start of Ipex in mid May. It is understood the bid has come about due to the poor performance of Punch International’s companies in the automotive industry where Punch International has been concentrating its operations in recent years.

NPM Capital is an independent investment company that invests in medium sized companies (with a shareholders’ equity of between €50 and €500 million) in the Benelux region. It is a company with more than 60 years experience in growth capital and buy-outs and has made 632 investments since 1948. It currently has 33 equity investments and the average duration of its investments is for 11 years. NPM is a member company of SVH Holdings, a group with an annual turnover in excess of €11 billion and with more than 38,000 employees. NPM is the market leader in the Dutch Midcap investment market.

The benefit for Xeikon and Basys Print, assuming the acquisition goes through, will be a stable ownership with access to funds for ongoing product development. The two companies have had a somewhat unstable structure for many years since the acquisition of Xeikon in 2002 following the company going into bankruptcy. Despite this both Xeikon and Basys Print have successfully introduced a number of competitive products into the digital printing and CtP markets.