The Customization Group acquires ORWO Net out of insolvency
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European personalized print-on-demand company The Customization Group (TCG), and formerly known as Picanova, one of the world’s leading providers of personalized print-on-demand products through brands such as MEINFOTO and merchOne, has completed the acquisition of the insolvent ORWO Net GmbH. As we reported in March, the 270-person company filed for insolvency with the Dessau-Roßlau District Court, according to the report.
TCG has now acquired all essential assets of the company, secured the continuation of operations at the Bitterfeld-Wolfen production site, and retained the majority of the workforce. Employment relationships not taken over will be terminated within the insolvency process with the utmost social responsibility.
“With ORWO, we gain not only a storied brand name but also a strong team and an excellent production base,” said Philipp Mühlbauer, CEO & Co-Founder of TCG. “Our goal is to develop this site into a European flagship for photo lab products through targeted investment and technological integration.”
With the integration of this heritage-rich company, TCG says it significantly expands its production capacity in Europe and sends a strong signal for growth, job preservation, and technological transformation at the Bitterfeld-Wolfen site.
ORWO Net GmbH, a successor of the historic ORWO brand (“Original Wolfen”) has been a key player in photo products for over a century. Following ORWO Net’s filing for insolvency in March 2025, TCG has now acquired all essential assets of the company, secured the continuation of operations at the Bitterfeld-Wolfen production site, and retained the majority of the workforce. Employment relationships not taken over will be terminated within the insolvency process with the utmost social responsibility.
With the acquisition of ORWO Net, TCG now operates five international production sites with a daily output capacity of more than 2.5 million personalized products.
End customers and existing business partners will benefit from an expanded product portfolio and industry-leading quality in paper-based photo products. The successful partnership between ORWO and Rossmann within the “Fotowelt” offering will continue seamlessly, and the online shop orwo.de will remain active.
“We’re excited about this next phase of development, where we can scale ORWO’s photo lab strengths in a targeted way,” emphasized Dr. Björn Schwarzbach, designated site manager. “Production in Bitterfeld-Wolfen will become a cornerstone of TCG’s Europe-wide fulfillment strategy, focusing on quality, delivery speed, and sustainability.”
The acquisition of ORWO Net is part of TCG’s M&A-driven platform strategy, the company says. TCG operates in three business models: in the D2C segment with end-customer brands like meinfoto.de and ORWO, in the B2B space through merchOne.com with fulfillment services for large clients and resellers, and in B2B2C through integrated white-label solutions for retailers.