Fresh reports about the much-rumoured marriage of convenience between Heidelberg and manroland make it sound as if this potential coming together has now moved well beyond any initial fluttering of eyelashes to a more concrete proposal stage. Heidelberg's share price has been edging upwards over the past week and is at a relative "high" of  €6.15. Relative, that is, when you consider it was €23 at the beginning of last year.

The fusion of two such venerable print institutions - manroland is five years older than its larger rival, having been established in 1845 - could truly be classed as a mega-merger with far-reaching consequences. It would be a particularly painful prospect in the German manufacturing heartland of both operations, but in the current climate needs must, and the economic backdrop could help smooth any anti-trust hurdles.

Early speculation has centred on the fact that 2,500 jobs could be at risk because manroland's Offenbach plant would be surplus to requirements for the new entity. I imagine the number of employees involved in the duplication of worldwide sales activities will be significant too.

Putting aside the paradox that Heidelbeg made an expensive exit from web offset printing just five years ago, in some respects this deal makes sense: pairing Heidelberg's dominant position in sheetfed with manroland's strength in commercial and newspaper web presses would create a formidable force indeed.  

If the current speculation is to be believed it could also result in the creation of a beefed up competitor, should Shanghai Electric, the majority shareholder in Goss International, move to take over the Offenbach plant and thus add western sheetfed manufacturing to its already considerable printing industry footprint. As previously noted, it appears likely that Goss will become the first mainstream press manufacturer to be Chinese-owned.

Shanghai Electric's print wing is already China's biggest print and packaging machinery group. Chairman Xu Jianguo has stated the group's aim to "seize opportunities to further enhance its technological innovation as well as to reinforce its production capability" and such an opportunity could be about to present itself.