Baldwin Expands Global Platform with Acquisition of QuadTech

Baldwin Technology Company Inc., St. Louis, Mo., USA, a provider of process automation solutions, consumables, and services for the print, packaging, textile, and corrugated industries, has acquired QuadTech Inc.  from its parent company, Quad/Graphics. With this acquisition, Baldwin adds all of QuadTech’s technology and strategic locations across the Americas, Europe, China, Japan, and India.

QuadTech is a designer and manufacturer of control systems that help commercial, newspaper, packaging, and publication gravure printers improve their performance and productivity. Headquartered in Sussex, Wis., QuadTech maintains a worldwide network of sales and service operations, and sells automated systems in more than 100 countries.

Baldwin will strategically unite QuadTech with two of its existing divisions—Web Printing Controls and PC Industries—creating a global platform that will operate as Baldwin Vision Systems. The resulting combination of businesses and technology will represent the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio available for print process automation, inspection, and related services. Karl Fritchen, current QuadTech president, will lead the new Baldwin segment, which brings together the best and brightest global talent and capabilities in the industry. Product technologies will span closed-loop automation for registration, inking, color management, web handling, and 100% inspection for the commercial, newspaper, labels, packaging, converting, and publication gravure industries.

"The combination of products and expertise held within both companies will enable us to reach areas of the market we were unable to reach individually," said Fritchen. "From an international operations and market perspective, each party’s strengths are highly complementary. This is definitely a situation where we can accomplish much more together than we could have as independent companies."

"QuadTech will serve as a catalyst for the formation of our new Baldwin Vision Systems segment, which will greatly enhance Baldwin’s ability to provide an even more comprehensive automation portfolio for our customers around the world," said Brent Becker, president and CEO of Baldwin. "Together, we provide our customers an unmatched portfolio in commercial and newspaper automation, and I am very excited about the additional capabilities we will gain in the packaging markets. The work QuadTech has done recently on color within the packaging market clearly places us as the industry leader, and we have aggressive plans to build upon that position. I fully expect that our combined global presence, coupled with a new tiered product offering, will position the company to further satisfy our customers’ needs in an even larger geographical area."

QuadTech is Baldwin’s fifth acquisition since joining the BW Forsyth Partners family of companies in 2012, and the fourth completed in 2017.

"We are thrilled to partner with the QuadTech team, as this investment underscores our continued commitment to a strategy that blends organic and acquisition growth to enhance our global footprint, advance the technology and service we can deliver to our customers, and cultivate our unique culture of care and collaboration," said Kyle Chapman, founder and managing director of BW Forsyth Partners. "We will continue to support Baldwin’s strategy execution, as the team seeks opportunities to expand the company’s reach into new industries and new geographic markets, increasing solutions for customers."

 

In photo below are (l¬-r): John Wooley, business leader, PC Industries; Herman Gnuechtel, business leader, Web Printing Controls; Brent Becker, president and CEO, Baldwin, and Karl Fritchen, president, QuadTech.