Alma Media's printing and distribution company Alma Manu Oy has purchased a COLORMAN autoprint for its new newspaper printing facility in Finnish Tampere, due to be completed in 2012, from manroland AG.

The new printing press COLORMAN autoprint will simultaneously print three seven-day newspapers. It can also be used for extensive daytime production, and, thanks to its high degree of automation, for economic printing of smaller runs than today. The new press can print both broadsheet and tabloid formats.

"We selected manroland as the supplier after a thorough evaluation. Their central competitive advantages were the operational efficiency of the machine and its first-class print quality. For example, the new press will allow us to print the entire run of Aamulehti in three hours instead of the current five. The decision was also affected by our trust in manroland as a long-term, experienced partner," says Helvi Liukkaala, Managing Director, Alma Manu Oy.

Environmental factors were high on the list of selection criteria. The material and energy efficiency of the new press are clearly better than those of present equipment, which will decrease the environmental impact of the newspapers.

"The investment in the new Tampere printing facility is in line with Alma Media's strategy and will contribute to a profitable publishing business while we at the same time keep developing our digital services. The new, efficient printing facility will also create the opportunity to collaborate with publishers outside the Alma Media Group," says Kai Telanne, President and CEO, Alma Media Corporation.

Construction work at the new facility is advancing according to schedule. The installation of the new printing press will start in the summer of 2012, and its first newspapers will be delivered to customers in early 2013.

Alma Media is a dynamic media company whose best-known products are Aamulehti, Iltalehti, Kauppalehti and Etuovi.com. Alma Media employs approximately 2,800 professionals.