PRINTPACK INDIA 2019 IPAMA BULLETIN
KOMORI COMES TO INDIA DIRECTLY
Komori acquires majority stake in Insight’s offset press sales operation
O
n 16 February 2018, Komori
announced direct participation
in sales and servicing of its
offset presses in India by acquiring
a majority stake in offset sales
operations of its distributor in the
country, Insight Communications.
The agreement’s implementation will
take full effect and ‘get into full speed
by 1 April 2018,’ according to a joint
statement by the two organizations.
Komori is, of course, a leading
manufacturer and supplier of sheet-fed
offset, web offset, high-end packaging
and security printing presses. Its
overseas sales in the fiscal year ended
31 March 2017 accounted for 60.3%
of consolidated net sales. Out of all its
overseas markets, Komori gives a lot of
attention to China, India and ASEAN
countries due their robust economies.
According to the statement, print
demand is expected to grow rapidly
in these regions due to booming
population growth and burgeoning
personal consumption. Keeping these
factors in mind, Komori has positioned
these countries as priority countries in
its growth plans.
Since 2007, Insight has been an
aggressive distributor of Komori
products and has achieved significant
success in terms of the number of
presses installed and a leading position
in the Indian market in the last three
years. With strong relationships in the
print industry built by representation
of multiple products from global
leaders, its marketing and sales has
shown a great capacity for reaching
across big print clusters and smaller
cities and towns. In just ten years it
has literally created a new market
segment of printers who aspired to
purchasing new presses but were
hitherto unable to and established
a strong footprint of 260 offset press
installations. At the same time, it has
developed an engineering and support
service network.
The joint statement speaks of
India’s impressive demographics—a
population of 1.3 billion, half of whom
are 24 years of age or younger. “The
country clearly holds abundant
potential for economic growth.
Likewise, the market for offset
“The new
organization plans
to adopt the best of
both the local and
global as the current
team will continue to
handle operations in
India with enhanced
support, investments
and growth engines
coming from
Komori’s global
presence.”
Yosuke Hayakawa of Komori and Ajay Aggarwal of Insight sign off on Komori’s acquisition
of a majority stake in the offset press sales operations of the Insight group at Delhi on 16 February 2018
printing presses is expected to grow
at a much higher rate, exceeding the
country’s GDP growth rate,” it says.
“To seize these opportunities, Komori
decided to acquire majority stake in
Insight Communications and Print
Solution India Pvt. Ltd. and make it
a subsidiary. The aim is to penetrate
the Indian market even deeper. Not
only does this move aim to boost sales
of Komori offset printing presses, the
acquisition of these shares is expected
to help Komori and Insight engage in
closer collaboration.”
Satoshi Mochida, president and chief
operating officer, Komori Japan says,
“We believe that these initiatives will
help local printing companies better
utilize high-value-added printing
solutions and enhance the efficiency of
their operations, thereby contributing
to the development of India’s printing
industry.” According to Sangam
Khanna of Insight Communications,
“It will result in Komori getting closer
to the Indian customers and provide
much better service, enhance product
reliability and provide information
and communications technology
(ICT) solutions aimed at improving
productivity. Future plans include
creating various products tailored to
meet local Indian requirements.”
Ajay Aggarwal of Insight says, “The
new organization plans to adopt the
best of both the local and global as the
current team will continue to handle
operations in India with enhanced
support, investments and growth
engines coming from Komori’s global
presence.” Speaking with us on the
phone, Aggarwal adds, “Komori will
be operating out of our [Insight’s]
new premises in Delhi/NCR and the
two companies will continue to work
closely on sales and servicing. Also, we
will handle the western and southern
India markets while Komori will more
directly look after the northern and
eastern India territories.”
Hirofumi Hoshino w ill be taking
over as the managing director of
the new venture. He joined Komori
in 1977, after getting his degree
in mechanical engineering, and
was involved in press design and
production. A core member of
Komori’s Global Sales and Service
Group and an associate board director,
he has spent time working for Komori
America as well as Komori Europe.
Sangam Khanna will head the
sales and marketing function in the
restructured Komori majority owned
sales and servicing organization. z
– Naresh Khanna
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2018 | SUPPORTED BY IPP & PSA | 21