Royal Sens CEO hails Tipografic buy

The CEO of Royal Sens has told Printweek more about how the company’s acquisition earlier this month of Tipografic is a major step forward for the business.

Sander Koster, CEO of the Rotterdam-headquartered labels specialist, said he had spent time at label producer Tipografic this month to finalise the deal and get to know the people – office and production staff as well as its management.

“We wanted to give a human face to the message of new ownership, and it was very good,” he said.

Royal Sens acquired Tipografic on 10 April and Koster said the deal –  which will enable optimised lead times, increase flexibility, and remove import barriers – came about organically.

“Royal Sens and Tipografic have known each other for, I would say the last 30 years. We – as Royal Sens – have been supplying to the UK and Ireland for many years and have also been frequently competing with Tipografic.

“We’ve always had a healthy competitive relationship, but also a good personal relationship with the two founders and previous owners.

“We started proper discussions around eight months ago. A lot of our early discussions were around culture, values, and what we each stand for and how we deal with our people. I think that, for us as well as for them, was a really critical element where we really found each other.”

Koster said customers had reacted “very positively” to the deal.

“We’ve spoken with a lot of customers and sent a letter out to all of our customers that we haven’t spoken to, and the responses have been really positive.

“Both Tipografic and Royal Sens operate in the same industry and are both 100% focused on label manufacturing, and specifically wet glue labels – both paper and plastic.

“There was even some customer overlap where Tipografic was supplying some customers we were also supplying, and vice versa. There were quite a few benefits of joining forces.”

Based in Birkenhead, just across the River Mersey from central Liverpool, Tipografic was founded in 1989 and moved to its current site in 2003. It today employs over 130 people, all of whom were kept on as part of the deal and will remain based at their current premises.

The existing day-to-day management team at Tipografic has also remained in place, and the company’s name and branding will not be changed.

“We make labels here in Holland that we then supply to the UK market, so over time it is likely that some, or a substantial part, of that volume will be transferred from Holland to manufacturing in Liverpool,” said Koster.

“The fact that we are now joining forces shouldn’t intervene with day-to-day operations, we need to continue to remain focused on what we do every day and what we’re good at.”

Royal Sens has been producing labels since 1896 and employs over 240 staff across four branches in three countries. Combined, the group’s turnover is now around €100m (£86m).

Tipografic runs litho kit from Heidelberg and Windmöller & Hölscher flexo presses, while Royal Sens runs Manroland litho machinery as well as machinery from Muller Martini and Comexi. Both businesses also have extensive finishing operations.

Koster added: “In Holland, we’re also currently investing in two new Manroland printing presses, one for our Rotterdam location and one for our site in Enschede. We are also substantially expanding our finishing department in Enschede with a new cutting line and two new die-cutting machines.”