The transaction is subject to customary completion conditions, adjustments and regulatory approval.
Established in 1994, LSC Poland is the seventh largest web offset printer in Europe. Revenue in the year ended 31 December 2017 was €200.0 million.
LSC Poland specialises in the production of retail advertising flyers, magazines, catalogues, and in-store point of sale solutions for over 430 customers in 34 countries, says Walstead.
The business also provides pre-media graphic services from a dedicated facility in Warsaw.
The company employs over 2,000 staff at six sites in Poland. The three web offset manufacturing sites at Starachowice (x1) and Kraków (x2) extend to 72,800 m2 in total and house 23 web offset and five sheet-fed printing presses. In 2017 LSC Poland printed 105.2 billion A4 pages and processed 222,000 tonnes of paper.
Following completion, Walstead says it will be a leading producer of advertising flyers and magazines in Europe with pro-forma annual revenues exceeding €730 million. The enlarged group will employ over 4,400 staff operating 70 web offset and four gravure printing presses which process 905,000 tonnes of paper annually. The group will serve 4,800 customers in 38 countries from 19 production facilities in the UK, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Poland.
LSC Poland will be rebranded and operate as a fourth regional division alongside Walstead UK, Walstead Iberia and Walstead CE. Grzegorz Czech, LSC Poland’s chief executive, will remain with the company.
Mark Scanlon, chairman of Walstead, commented: “This is another transformational deal for us. The combination of Walstead and LSC Poland creates a business with unmatched geographical reach and production resource to support Europe’s largest retailers, catalogue and magazine publishers, and brand owners. As can be evidenced by our growth in the European printing sector, I firmly believe printed media has a long-lasting place with consumers and provides our customers with a measurable, trustworthy and reliable channel to market. Those involved in the print media supply chain must recognise that consolidation is becoming increasingly necessary to ensure print remains a viable and economical communication medium that can continue to meet the challenges of the digital world.”
Thomas J. Quinlan III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of LSC Communications, Inc., commented: "Walstead’s position as one of the leading web offset commercial printers in Europe will create new opportunities for LSC Poland to expand even deeper into the European market. This, combined with LSC’s strategic focus on driving long-term growth through pioneering services and solutions that create the most value for our core client segments, were the geneses of this mutually advantageous agreement."
