Unibind MD Keoshgerian becomes sole shareholder

Keoshgerian completed a deal to purchase a 51% stake for €1.9m (£1.53m) from Belgian firm Peleman Industries on 23 September.

According to Keoshgerian, the acquisition will enable Unibind to continue product development by centralising its production facilities and broaden its service offering.

He said the company will eventually be rebranded as Unibind Digital, after a successfully trial period offering fulfilment services under the name online.

"This successful share purchase is a major milestone in the history of Unibind and signals the beginning of an exciting new era for all our staff and customers," he said.

Among the new machines launched by Unibind is the Casemaker 650M, which Keoshgerian expects to compete in the manual case making market with a £10,000 price point.

The share deal is the latest development at the binding equipment manufacturer, which has diversified into the production photobook, yearbook and high-end presentation collateral.

This has been carried out through its partnership with The Printed Word, a local print business that Unibind has had a 25% stake in for the past two years.

Employing 17 staff, the litho and digital printer has recently moved into the Unibind Graylands Estate premises in Horsham.

He said: "We are now joined at the hip. Our Unibind manufacturing business is very much our core offering but expansion into fulfilment is very much part of the future.

"This includes the development of a software package in conjunction with Infigo, which enables schools to design their own yearbooks that we can print and finish for them."

Unibind has a turnover and with The Printed Word, employs a total of 52 staff.