KBA to acquire Iberica from Cerutti

Iberica produces medium and large format flatbed die-cutting units for board and corrugated packaging. It has mainly been active in Europe and in some overseas markets.

The integration into the global KBA sales and service network would greatly improve Iberica’s growth prospects, while the planned takeover underscores the press manufacturer’s focus on the growing packaging market, as detailed here. KBA’s sheet-fed segment is the longstanding market leader in folding carton printing. Its international customer base for sheet-fed offset presses and die-cutters is largely identical. KBA has partnered with Xerox to introduce VariJET 106, a digital sheet-fed press for the folding carton market, as detailed here.

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, KBA president and CEO, said: ‘KBA Group delivers 70 percent of its presses to companies in the growing packaging market. Sheet-fed offset presses from KBA-Sheetfed Solutions have an outstanding position worldwide for folding carton printers. With this in mind, adding flatbed die-cutters to our portfolio for the same customer group makes perfect sense. The takeover and further development of Iberica through KBA corresponds to the strategic interests of both companies and we are confident that we will soon come to an agreement with the Cerutti Group given our longstanding solid company relationship.’

Dr Giancarlo Cerutti, Cerutti chairman and CEO, confirmed that Iberica is ‘no longer strategic’ for the current product portfolio of Cerutti Group, which is more and more focused on web packaging equipment.

‘I’m sure that Iberica will benefit of further possibilities of growth and development in KBA.’