Move to strengthen product competitiveness and ability to propose solutions in digital textile business
Epson Italia S.p.A., an Epson Group company ("Epson", TSE:6724), has acquired For.Tex S.R.L., a leader in the textile printing industry. Epson Italia, which purchased a 50% stake in For.Tex in 2012, completed the buyout in a move that strengthens Epson's digital textile printing business.
Located in Como, the heart of the Italian and European textile industry, For.Tex specializes in sales of textile printing inks and in the manufacture and sale of essential treatment agents used in textile printing processes.
Epson and For.Tex have worked closely in the digital textile printing business since 2003 as part of Epson's joint development of the Monna Lisa digital textile printer with F.lli Robustelli S.R.L. ("Robustelli"). Later, in 2012, Epson Italia purchased a 50% stake in For.Tex in a move to strengthen ties and expand the business.
Epson expects the digital textile printing market to grow at an annual rate of about 25% going forward. The acquisition of For.Tex immediately gives Epson know-how across the entire textile printing process, from strategy and design through manufacturing and sales. This know-how, along with unified management, will enable Epson to further accelerate growth of the textile printing business.
Sunao Murata, chief operating officer of Epson's Professional Printing Operations Division, said, " Over the past few years For.Tex has made an outstanding contribution to Epson's efforts to replace analog textile printing with digital. By combining Epson's digital inkjet textile technology with the technical and marketing expertise of For.Tex, we have been able to generate genuine value for the growing number of customers who are convinced that digital is the way forward. Now is the time to take the next step, and I am delighted to welcome For.Tex to the Epson Group. We will now further strengthen our ties as we seek to drive change in the textile printing market and become an indispensable business partner to our customers."
"I am extremely proud that For.Tex has become a full member of the Epson Group," said Pietro Roncoroni, president of For.Tex. "We have developed a number of synergies with Epson over the years we have worked with them, and with both companies sharing the same goals, today's announcement is a natural progression from the work we have done with them to date. Going forward, I am looking forward to working even closer with Epson to drive further innovations in digital inkjet textile printing and to better serve our customers both in Italy and around the world."
Epson sees commercial and industrial printing, including textile printing, as promising growth areas where Epson can take advantage of its proprietary MicroPiezo inkjet technology. Epson is committed to strengthening its presence in textile printing and aims to provide products and services that surprise and delight customers in this market.
For.Tex outline
* As of December 31, 2014. |
