Sriraam Selvam - Top Five Headlines of the Week

Xerox
The biggest news of them all. Xerox is "in talks" to buy the world’s largest print group, according to a report on Bloomberg.com. The report said, “people with knowledge of the matter” have said Xerox is in talks to buy the USD 11.6bn turnover, US-headquartered RR Donnelley.

Bloomberg said that the talks are at an early stage, but the deal could be completed before Xerox splits into two businesses at the end of the year.

Ballarpur
There is a spot of bother for Ballarpur. The paper major's USD 500-million deal to sell its 98.08 per cent stake in Malaysia arm, Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) to Pandawa Sakti for USD 500 million has fallen through. The debt-ridden BILT was eyeing to halve its Rs 7000 crore debt, with this sale.

SFI is controlled by Ballarpur Paper Holdings BV (BPH), a step-down subsidiary of Ballarpur Industries.

According to reports in the business newspapers, the deal fell through as the buyer, Pandawa Sakti (Sabah) could not arrange for cash even after the extended deadline. Ballarpur has invoked performance guarantees of USD 50 million.

Epson
With the acquisition of Italian digital printer manufacturer Robustelli, Epson has strengthened its position in the industrial digital textile segment.

Robustelli’s Monna Lisa range of industrial digital textile printers, which are available in widths of 1.8m, 2.2m, and 3.2m, are capable of up to 990sqm/hr.
The devices use Epson Type-T2 heads and run acid, reactive, disperse or pigment Genesta inks, manufactured by Epson-owned For.Tex.

Epson portfolio of inkjet textile devices consists of the SureColor SC-F series of dye-sub printers – headed by the 1.6m-wide SC-F9200, capable of 56sqm/hr in production mode.

Flint
The USD 2.2 bn Flint Group has acquired UK-based ink and blanket manufacturer and supplier Druckfarben for an undisclosed sum.

Druckfarben supplies and manufactures a range of inks, varnishes, coatings, blankets and chemicals primarily for the sheetfed market.

Meanwhile Flint Group has completed its take-over of Siegwerk Druckfarben’s Heatset and Newsink production arm and acquired US-based American Inks and Coatings.

Xaar
The Cambridge-based manufacturer, Xaar has reported that its half-year sales are in line with expectations as the inkjet developer pushes ahead with its strategy to more than double annual sales by 2020. The company recently announced it was targeting ambitious growth plans to more than double annual turnover by 2020, with sales expected from each of its ceramic tile decoration, packaging, textiles and wide-format and 3D printing segments.

Last week, Xaar, acquired US-based direct-to-product printing specialist Engineered Printing Solutions (EPS), which manufactures its own range of industrial direct-to-shape flatbeds, direct-to-shape single pass printers, direct-to-bottle engines as well as highly automated custom-built industrial printing lines for a range of applications.

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