AGFA OFFSET SOLUTIONS NOW ECO3

Printers who were buying plates, software, and a raft of other offset necessities from Agfa, will now be buying them from ECO3, the new brand for the newly independent business.

ECO3 will supply offset plates, graphic film, software, chemicals, equipment including CTP, and services. It is owned by private equity fund Aurelius Group, which paid €92m for what was Agfa’s biggest division, Offset Solutions.

Mark Brindley, former managing director of Agfa ANZ is now managing director of ECO3 in ANZ. He said, “There is no change in supply, sales or service for our local customers. Our ABN and ACN remain the same. The only difference will be the new brand. It is a different name on the box, but the product inside, and the support and service that our customers receive, will be exactly the same.”

ECO3 employs around 1,600 people, in 30 countries. It had sales of €779m last year. It manufactured some 95 million square metres of plates, from plants in Germany, Latin America and China. The ECO3 brand strapline is ‘You print. We care.’

While plates are the major product, according to Brindley there is a “massive focus” on the software. He said, “Senior management within the division have been working with Aurelius, which has 100 per cent backed the software strategy, the roadmap, and the R+D investment.” Its software R+D teams are located in Belgium and Israel.

The new offset business under Aurelius will have Frederick Dehing as head of global sales and service. Dehing is well known to the ANZ print community, having served as the popular managing director of the business here for three years from 2007. Brindley said, “Having worked with Frederick for three years, I know what a smart guy he is. He understands the needs of print businesses.”

Dehing commented: "While our brand, logo and colours change, nothing will change for our customers. They can continue to rely on their trusted account manager and service engineer, on the innovative product portfolio they buy from ECO3 and on the highest value in product and service. Hence our tagline: You Print. We Care."

Brindley, who has run Agfa's offset, wide format and radiology businesses here since Dehing returned to Europe in 2010, will remain as managing director of the rebranded company, which is in the process of appointing a global CEO. The senior management team remains.

Agfa itself is keeping its graphics business, which includes inkjet printing, sign and display inks, industrial applications and synthetic papers within its current business, it was not part of the Aurelius deal.

Its inkjet business includes the Jeti, Anapurna and Oberon roll-to-roll, flatbed and hybrid wide format print systems, the Avinci dye sub printer, and the Inca high volume flatbeds it bought for €48m a year ago. In ANZ that business will initially be within the new Aurelius-owned brand, and will be headed by sales manager Philip Burns, but within 18 months will become a separate entity.