Intrigued to see that one of print's most widely-admired companies is getting more active in Europe. Quad/Graphics (for it is they) quietly upped their stake in Poland's Winkowski to more than 50% at the end of last year. The two companies have been affiliates for a decade, but now Winkowski will take the Quad moniker to become QuadWinkowski, and Quad's senior vice president of manufacturing Tom Frankowski is taking over as president of its European outpost.

Winkowski is a sizeable business with sales of circa £150m, and it lays claim to being central Europe's largest commercial printer - across its four sites it packs considerable firepower in web, sheetfed, and complex bindery and personalisation services, and was running more than 20 web presses last time I checked it out. It's worth noting that it exports almost 40% of what it produces. Capex of some £18m is on the cards. 

Privately-owned Quad/Graphics is a $2bn print giant in the States, but the firm has acknowledged that the domestic market can no longer provide the growth rates it has enjoyed in the past, despite the travails of competitors such as Quebecor World. This move into Europe is significant given the disarray and perilous financial state of some (many?) of the competing businesses over here. In a market universally described as being ripe for further consolidation, I for one shall be keeping a close eye on what Quad does next.