PHILLIPS, Wis. - MarquipWardUnited, Inc., a Barry-Wehmiller company, has executed a definitive agreement to acquire- the operations of Körber AG’s Papersystems companies: E.C.H. Will GmbH, Pemco Inc. and Kugler-Womako GmbH, pending the approval of the respective antitrust authorities. The combination of these industry leaders expands MarquipWardUnited’s sheeter footprint, establishing BW Papersystems as the leading supplier of sheeting and sheet packaging machinery in the world with solutions for the widest range of applications for the paper converting, manufacturing and packaging industries. In addition, MarquipWardUnited, Inc. will add machines for stationery manufacturers and bookbinders to its portfolio and will assume a leading position in the production of machines for the manufacture of passports.

E.C.H. Will, Pemco and Kugler-Womako generated combined sales averaging $125 million (USD) over the past five years. As part of the transaction, their 350+ associates will join MarquipWardUnited’s 1,100 team members worldwide.

“We are excited to partner with these industry leaders whose expertise naturally dovetails with MarquipWardUnited’s,” said Tim Sullivan, Barry-Wehmiller Group President. “We have watched the successful synergy between E.C.H. Will, Pemco and Kugler-Womako and feel that MarquipWardUnited’s capabilities will complement theirs. We look forward to welcoming them into our family and introducing them to our dynamic people-centric culture. This combination presents many exciting opportunities for our customers, our suppliers, and Barry-Wehmiller’s 7,600 team members around the globe!”

“We are pleased to have found a strategic and long-term oriented operator with Barry-Wehmiller for the Papersystems companies,” commented Körber CFO Stephan Seifert.

"Together, we enlarge the range of our technologies and products quite considerably. At the same time, we will continue our commitment to providing outstanding Customer Service," said Christoph Golombek, Managing Director of Kugler-Womako. “We look forward to pursuing our corporate aims in the long term with these companies and their team members." 

“This merger brings the leading names in the sheeting industry under one banner and positions us to increase the scope of products for Sheeting and Ream Wrapping,” commented Steve Brimble, VP Sales, MarquipWardUnited. “The combination of these key brands and their technologies ultimately means better products and more comprehensive support of our customers.” 

As a group, these companies become a frontrunner in technology for cut-size, folio and digital sheeting and packaging, and ream wrapping, to benefit the most complex mill to the smallest converter. Their individual capabilities include:

MarquipWardUnited (with headquarters in Phillips, WI-USA) manufactures high-speed sheeter equipment for the paper converting and folding carton converting industries worldwide as well as machinery for the worldwide corrugated board industry

E.C.H. Will (based in Wedel, Germany) manufactures cut size sheeters for the production of copy paper, folio-size sheeters for paper and board, machines that produce ruled notebooks, and provides solutions for the industrial converting of digitally printed books.

Pemco (based in Sheboygan, WI-USA) offers complete packaging lines for cut-size, digital and folio reams. SHM small converting Sheeters and Wrapmatic folio ream wrappers complete the range. Kugler-Womako (based in Nürtingen, Germany) supplies machinery for the stationery and bookbinding industries and is the world market leader in the production of machines for the manufacture of passports.

In addition to the enhanced sheeter presence made possible by the transaction, MarquipWardUnited continues to maintain its robust corrugator and finishing product lines which include corrugators, rotary die cutters and flexo folder gluers; as well as its corrugated line products, flexo folder gluers (manufactured by Curioni in Milan, Italy) and VortX starch kitchens (manufactured in Milton, PA-USA).