CEWE is selling its commercial online printing business to Cimpress to focus on photofinishing
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA announced a contractual agreement for the sale of its Commercial Online Printing business unit, including the SAXOPRINT production facility in Dresden and the sales units viaprinto and LASERLINE, to VistaPrint owner Cimpress. With this transaction, CEWE is strengthening its profile as a leading provider of premium photo finishing products and is consistently focusing capital and management resources on the growth of its core photo finishing business, both organically and through further planned acquisitions, the company said. The sale is expected to further improve the profitability of the continuing business units: Based on the 2025 figures, the pro forma Group EBIT margin excluding Commercial Online Printing would be approximately 11.2% (instead of 10.2%). The return on capital employed (ROCE) for the group, excluding Commercial Online Printing, will increase by 2 percentage points to 19.6% (instead of 17.6%) in 2025 on a pro forma basis. Commercial Online Printing will become part of Cimpress, thus gaining the right owner in a consolidating market.
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, in particular regulatory and antitrust approvals, and is expected during the second half of 2026. The purchase price remains confidential. Upon completion of the transaction, CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA will receive proceeds exceeding the current carrying amounts of the Commercial Online Printing business unit. After accounting for the disposals of assets and liabilities attributable to this business unit, including goodwill, CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA expects a gain from the sale of the discontinued business unit in the mid-double-digit million-euro range.
SAXOPRINT serves business customers and is known for its high-quality, low-cost production capabilities for flyers, booklets, brochures, catalogs, and magazines. viaprinto, based in Münster, Germany, is a reseller known for serving business customers through an intuitive user experience and value-added services. Collectively, these businesses generated €89.6 million in revenue in calendar year 2025 with approximately 10% EBITDA margins.
The divestment follows a clear return-on-investment and focus logic. In fiscal year 2025, the core Photo Finishing business segment achieved the strongest profitability of the CEWE business segments, with revenues of €745.5 million and EBIT of €86.6 million (reported EBIT margin 11.6%, operating EBIT margin 11.9%). The Commercial Online Printing business segment contributed €1.7 million in revenue (1.9% EBIT margin) with €89.6 million. This improves the CEWE Group’s margin quality on a pro forma basis: Excluding Commercial Online Printing, the Group’s EBIT margin for 2025 is approximately 11.2% instead of 10.2%. The return on capital employed (ROCE) in the group, excluding commercial online printing, will increase by 2 percentage points to 19.6% (instead of 17.6%) in 2025 on a pro forma basis.
Accelerated growth and strategic leverage of economies of scale: The proceeds from the transaction will be used in a value-oriented manner. The strategic priority is the further development of the photo finishing business, particularly through investments in technology, efficiency, and brand strength, as well as through selective, value-enhancing acquisitions. The continuation of share buybacks and a reliable dividend payout remains guaranteed.
“We allocate capital where the highest sustainable returns are achieved: in our core photo finishing business – with economies of scale across production, logistics, and IT, a strong premium brand strategy, and targeted acquisitions to accelerate growth momentum while maintaining a positive margin trend,” said Thomas Mehls, CEO of the CEWE Group. “As already confirmed in the past with the acquisitions of WhiteWall and Cheerz, we intend to expand our customer reach, enhance our technological advantages, strengthen our regional market presence, and leverage economies of scale to sustainably increase our earnings through targeted acquisitions in the photo finishing sector.”
Commercial online printing benefits from the best – owner principle. CEWE expressly acknowledges the performance and commitment of all 544 employees in commercial online printing at SAXOPRINT, viaprinto, and LASERLINE, who have successfully developed the business over many years and are all being retained by the new owner.
“Their dedication, operational excellence, and customer focus have made commercial online printing a high-performing and recognized business segment,” said Mehls. “This sale is the right decision not only for CEWE, but also for commercial online printing. KOD will become part of the global market leader Cimpress, thus gaining the right owner in a consolidating market. With additional production volumes, Cimpress can fully leverage the efficiency and scalability of SAXOPRINT’s technically outstanding production facility in Dresden and benefit from the large customer base of the strong brands SAXOPRINT, viaprinto, and Laserline. Under the Cimpress umbrella, KOD will be able to fully capitalize on the economies of scale of the market leader.”
“CEWE’s commercial online printing business brings a strong, excellently positioned industrial asset with state-of-the-art production capabilities to our company,” said Robert Keane, founder, chairman, and CEO of Cimpress. “This tuck-in acquisition by our PrintBrothers segment extends Cimpress’ deep expertise and scale advantages in manufacturing, improving our ability to help millions of business customers build brands, stand out, and grow via customized physical marketing products and branded merchandise. We have clear near-term plans to drive significant synergies through cross-Cimpress fulfilment. Multiple Cimpress businesses will leverage SAXOPRINT’s world-class production capabilities for its primary products, and SAXOPRINT will source other products from Cimpress’ focused production hubs across Europe. Those synergies, other near-term cash generation opportunities, and SAXOPRINT’s standalone cash flow are expected to generate base case returns on capital well in excess of 20%. This acquisition should enhance Cimpress’ per-share free cash flow as we execute against our previously announced FY2028 financial targets without changing our established plans to meaningfully reduce net leverage over the next two fiscal years. We look forward to welcoming the SAXOPRINT and viaprinto team members to Cimpress upon closing.”
