Finishing & Screen Printing

Eberl Medien takes over book manufacturer Kösel

Tuesday 28. January 2020 - The Immenstadt group of companies Eberl Medien takes over Druckerei Kösel GmbH & Co. KG from Altusried-Krugzell and plans to merge it with its own subsidiary Eberl print GmbH.

After extensive consideration, the previous Kösel owners, the siblings Erik Kurtz and Ulrike Schafheutle, decided at the beginning of the year to sell the renowned book manufacturer to their preferred partner Eberl. Eberl Medien Holding, publisher of the daily newspaper “Allgäuer Anzeigeblatt”, has been operating its own printing plant in the city center of Immenstadt with its 100 percent subsidiary Eberl print GmbH since 1974. For summer 2020, the company plans to abandon this site and merge the two printing operations at the Kösel site in Altusried-Krugzell, some 30 kilometers away. The current Kösel Managing Director Erik Kurtz will fully support the new shareholders during a transition phase to ensure a smooth transition.
“Both Kösel and Eberl are ultra-modern, traditional companies with a very long history and very similar ideas about high-quality print products,” says managing partner Ulrich Eberl. “Our two companies have been working closely together as partners for many years. The business volumes and our respective competences complement each other ideally”. Eberl print has always used Kösel’s extensive bookbinding know-how for its own ambitious projects, which the company has realized for customers from industry, the service sector and the creative industries. Eberl print’s experience in the design of three-dimensional printed products and packaging as well as in die-cutting, embossing, varnishing and finishing opens up new possibilities for Kösel’s existing customers, who mainly come from the publishing industry.
The owners of the two printing companies therefore initially discussed cooperation models, but finally decided in favour of a clear ownership structure in favour of economic size and quick decision-making processes. “I am convinced that the opportunities and challenges of the digital future in particular can only be realized with a certain company size,” says Ulrich Eberl. “In addition, Eberl print can no longer develop further at its location in downtown Immenstadt, and important investments with regard to environmental protection and Energieef?zienz are difficult to implement here”. The Altusried-Krugzell site, on the other hand, is modern, spacious and capable of expansion and offers good opportunities to meet the challenges of the future. For this reason, Eberl is planning to merge the two printing operations at the existing Kösel site in summer 2020.
As the two companies already use partially identical or complementary production units, this will enable Eberl print to deepen its value-added chain, control quality and save time in the future. “In this way, we are creating a powerful and competitive business that can exploit numerous synergies and market the unique selling points of both companies,” explains Ulrich Eberl. Following the purchase decision, the company management will now quickly clarify all questions regarding the intended merger and closely involve the works councils of both companies in the planning. The Betriebs?ächen of the print shop in Immenstadt, which will then become vacant, is to be put to a new use that will positively promote inner-city development. The company holding itself, the publishing house Eberl Medien as publisher of the daily newspaper “Allgäuer Anzeigeblatt” and the subsidiary Eberl online GmbH will remain at the Immenstadt site.