Sihl has been responsible for all distribution, sales and after-sales service for the Swiss manufacturer’s wide-format UV printers in Germany for nine years.

In what both parties have termed an amicable agreement, the partnership will come to an end on 1 April 2017. 

Sihl Direct has decided to end the partnership to focus on its media and coatings business “in order to continue optimising service to its customers”, it said. 

As a result, SwissQprint is to set up a subsidiary company to take over the German distribution of its equipment, which includes the Oryx, Impala and Nyala ranges of wide-format devices. 

In a joint statement Sihl Direct managing director Siegfried Zilliger and SwissQprint chief executive Reto Eicher said: “Both our companies have changed significantly in recent years, and so has the market. A realignment is the logical consequence and the best thing for our customers.”

All Sihl Direct staff servicing the SwissQprint contract have been offered positions in the new subsidiary, the location and structure of which is expected to be announced at Viscom in Frankfurt on 2-4 November. 

A SwissQprint spokesperson said the situation was a “win-win” for both parties and that rather than start from scratch with a new distributer, creating a subsidiary for its German business would benefit customers by providing them with a closer relationship to the manufacturer, continuity and greater product focus. 

SwissQprint products have been exclusively distributed in the UK by Spandex since 2011.