Armor has acquired its American competitor, International Imaging Materials (IIMAK). With its Armor Industrial Coding and Printing division, the French company based in Nantes has a 30% share of the world market for the manufacture of thermal transfer ribbons dedicated to the printing of variable data on labels and flexible packaging (barcodes, logos, texts, expiry dates, batch numbers). The American company, IIMAK, is the leader on the North American continent and number 4 worldwide.
The acquisition finalized in October also concerns IIMAK's Fluid Inks industrial ink business, but excludes the medical equipment business. With this external growth operation, the Armor group adds 100 million euros to its turnover and reaches a total of 372 million euros (for 2020). The group is expanding by 450 people, bringing its workforce to 2,450, including 1,650 for the heat transfer business alone. This is its biggest acquisition since its creation 99 years ago.
"This major acquisition for Armor is the result of the success of Armor Industrial Coding and Printing over the last 15 years, said Hubert de Boisredon, Chairman and CEO of Armor . During this period, we have focused on investing in our production facilities and product ranges and on international development as close as possible to our customers. It is also an undeniable proof that French industrial ETIs can become world champions."
Armor Industrial Coding and Printing and IIMAK now form a single entity, operating under the Armor-IIMAK banner. Headed by Christian Lefort, who recently joined the group, Armor-IIMAK has a 40% share of the international market and manufactures over 2.5 billion square meters of paper 2 of thermal transfer ribbons per year.
The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.
