All change as Agfa buys Inca from Screen

Agfa is acquiring the Inca Digital print systems business from its current owner Screen, and is also buying Screen’s nascent digital corrugated printing system which it has been developing with BHS. 

The Inca product range includes the Onset X, the Onset X HS series with optional robotic automation, and the Spyder X. The Onset M B1 sheetfed printer is also sold by Fujifilm as the Acuity B1.

Mark Brindley, managing director of Agfa Australia described the deal as "a great acquisition for our business."

Screen GP IJC, which is developing the print engine for the proposed 300 metres a minute BHS Corrugated inline digital corrugated print systems, is also part of the deal, and will now be part of Agfa.

Vincent Wille, president of Agfa’s Digital Print & Chemicals division said, “The combination of Inca Digital’s manufacturing knowhow and Agfa’s technical expertise, worldwide presence and excellent service networks will allow us to bring unparalleled printing solutions to our customers, and to adapt seamlessly to their needs in this rapidly evolving space.

“This investment leverages and strengthens our position in the high-end and high speed wide format market as a whole and specifically in the promising packaging segment.”

In Australia and New Zealand the Inca print systems have been supplied by Fujifilm, and have been installed in some notable businesses, including Active Display Group, now part of IVE, which put in two robot-fed Incas. 

Fujifilm also manufactures the ink for the Inca range, and the inkjet technology. Fujifilm though has been moving away from technology partnerships to become a full systems developer in its own right. Print people will see the results of that at Fespa in Berlin next month, under the company’s 'Blueprint' concept.

Inca has also been reportedly developing a single-pass inkjet 11,000sph B1 sheetfed press for folding carton packaging applications that uses water-based inks for Screen.

The acquisition of Inca will mark a return to the high volume high end industrial scale market for Agfa, it has been there previously with first Dotrix, then the M-Press Tiger, which saw some success in Australia, with Styleprint in Melbourne taking two of them.

Pascal Juéry, president and CEO at Agfa, said the acquisition was a major step in Agfa’s transformation, saying , “Digital printing is a profitable growth engine for the group with a tremendous potential that will be further accelerated by the addition of Inca.”

Agfa’s Digital Print & Chemicals division is a major growth driver at the business, with sales rose by 14 per cent to €330m last year. It also opened a new water-based ink manufacturing factory at its Belgium site.

Inca Digital is based in Cambridge in the UK in the digital print development cluster area, it has 150 staff, and has been operating since 1998.