Siegwerk to buy Color Converting LLC

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Color Converting LLC of Des Moines, the second-largest U.S. producer of inks for consumer product packaging, has reached an agreement to be purchased by Siegwerk Group, a printing-ink manufacturer based in Siegburg, Germany.

The acquisition will “extend the presence of Siegwerk Group in North America and strengthen its position as a packaging ink market leader,” the companies said in a release.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed by the privately held companies.

The acquisition will make Siegwerk the third-largest European printing-ink manufacturer, with combined annual revenues of $500 million. With 1,200 employees, Siegwerk Group provides its services and products to customers worldwide through seven subsidiaries and representatives in more than 50 countries. Founded in 1830, the company is among the oldest privately held companies in Germany.

Color Converting, which makes inks used on packaging for products such as Pampers disposable diapers and Frito-Lay chips, had revenues of approximately $212 million last year. The company was founded in 1975 and is based in Des Moines, where it employs about 120 of its 320 workers in two production plants. It also operates a factory in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Des Moines company’s revenues have increased 15 to 20 percent annually for the past several years, compared with industry growth rates of 3 to 5 percent during the same period.   Shannon Barry, Color Converting’s vice president of marketing, said all the company’s U.S. employees will remain in place, with the exception of the company’s chairman and founder, Ron Barry, who is retiring.

The deal, which is subject to approval by the U.S. Antitrust Commission, is expected to be consummated in early December.

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