Finally, after 160 years, the venerable press manufacturer MAN Roland had new owners. MAN AG, its parent, had spun it off as a private company. While MAN AG kept 35% of the new MAN Roland, the other 65% belonged to Allianz Capital Partners, the investment arm of Allianz AG, the giant insurance and financial services company.

There had been recent ownership changes at MAN Roland's rival Heidelberg, too. Heidelberg's own long-time corporate owner—a German utility called RWE—sold off most of its historic big block of interest in the press maker in 2004. By early 2006, some of the other big investors in the company (still more German giants like CommerzBank AG and Munich RE) were selling off large chunks of stock.

With North America’s offset printing sales contracting even as the economy expands, it is an open question whether all the sheetfed players remaining in the market will have room to stay much longer.