ContiTech acquiring Trelleborg’s printing blanket operation

Trelleborg, Sweden – Trelleborg Group is selling its printing blankets operations to German technology group Continental AG, to mark the final stage of a major turnaround programme launched in December 2019. 

The operation, which reported sales of SEK1.2 billion (€120 million) last year, develops and manufactures printing blankets in polymer-coated fabrics and will be integrated into ContiTech AG, Trelleborg announced 11 Nov. 

The transaction, the financial details of which were not disclosed, is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities and is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2022.

According to Trelleborg, printing blankets are used for all types of offset printing, as well as flexo and digital printing. The operation also includes a carrier sleeve product line for packaging flexo printing.

The business is claimed to be a 'leader in offset printing' with four brands of Vulcan, Rollin, Printec and Sava, using technologies such as coldset, heatset and sheetfed.

The divestment marks Trelleborg’s exit from the printing blanket market. 

“The operation is global, holds a leading position and has developed well under Trelleborg’s management,” said Trelleborg president and CEO Peter Nilsson.

“It is therefore gratifying that a new owner is taking over who can develop it further,” he added.

The divestment also concludes the strategic review of December 2019, which was tasked with evaluating various structural initiatives for a number of operations. 

Since then, Trelleborg has divested companies with a combined total of more than SEK 3.2 billion in sales, according to Nilsson. 

“We are now fully focused on continuing to develop the group and our well-performing and well-positioned business areas,” Nilsson added.