HEIDELBERG Acquires POLAR Mohr Brand Rights & Technology
POLAR Mohr technology for postpress products, including patents, intellectual property rights, and brand acquired exclusively; POLAR Group to remain HEIDELBERG development partner and continue production and assembly activities; HEIDELBERG takes further step towards systems integrator status, especially in packaging and label sector
German printing press manufacturer Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG) has signed an agreement with POLAR Group to acquire the technology, intellectual property (IP), and brand rights of its long-standing Hofheim-headquartered partner, together with further assets. Both the parties have agreed to keep the details of the agreement confidential.
The transaction is expected to be finalised within the coming weeks, giving HEIDELBERG the exclusive global sales, service, and marketing rights for POLAR Mohr’s postpress products. The agreement consolidates HEIDELBERG’s partnership with POLAR Mohr to gain direct access to further packaging markets in the growth regions of Asia, South America, and the Middle East. All processes relating to new machines, the supply of replacement parts, and service operations will remain the same as before for customers.
“HEIDELBERG is aiming to achieve targeted growth through M&A activities in attractive market segments. This acquisition underscores our credentials as a full-range supplier for our customers in the packaging and label industry, including service, and gives us exclusivity in a growing market,” says HEIDELBERG CEO Jürgen Otto. “As a systems integrator, we cover the entire value chain of a packaging print shop – on a fully integrated and networked basis – to ensure production is highly productive. POLAR Mohr systems play a key role in this context.”
Dating back to the 1950s, the partnership between HEIDELBERG and POLAR Mohr has proved extremely successful for both businesses. While POLAR Mohr has developed and manufactured the systems, HEIDELBERG has been largely responsible for their sales and service. On completion of the transaction, this responsibility will become global and exclusive.
HEIDELBERG offers postpress systems from POLAR Mohr as an integral part of its solutions portfolio. The focus is on automation, digitalisation, and workflow integration, with a view to boosting the productivity of customers’ value chains in packaging and label production. The product range includes components and systems that link up and automate all processes – from loading, jogging, cutting, and die cutting through to unloading and banding.
Owned by SOL Capital Management, POLAR Group will continue to operate as a partner of HEIDELBERG for the future development, production, and assembly of POLAR Mohr systems.
“When we took over the POLAR Group in early 2023, we acquired a tradition-steeped group of companies full of innovative spirit. Over the past couple of years, we have further intensified the collaboration with HEIDELBERG. The next logical step for us was the long-term consolidation of this very close relationship. We are delighted to be taking the next important step together with this sale of brand rights and technology and the full incorporation of sales and service activities into the HEIDELBERG organisation. This transaction will strengthen the market position of HEIDELBERG in the postpress, label, and packaging market on a long-term basis. It also leaves POLAR Mohr to focus entirely on its core competences as a developer and manufacturer,” says Dr. Paul Niederkofler, Senior Partner at SOL Capital Management.
