This morning (20 April) Agfa announced that it would be acquiring Inca “subject to customary conditions and approvals”.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

In a statement, Agfa president and CEO Pascal Juéry said the acquisition was “a major step in Agfa’s transformation”. 

“Digital printing is a profitable growth engine for the group with a tremendous potential that will be further accelerated by the addition of Inca,” he stated.

Agfa’s Digital Print & Chemicals wing is a key growth driver at the business, with sales up 14% to €330m last year and a new water-based ink manufacturing facility opened in Mortsel.

Screen acquired Cambridge-based inkjet developer and manufacturer Inca in a £30m deal in 2005, with inkjet described as a critical part of Screen’s future business. 

Screen HQ had not commented on the rationale behind the disposal at the time of writing, however Bui Burke, senior vice president of sales at Screen Europe, told Printweek that nothing would change for Screen customers, and it would continue to supply parts and consumables exactly as before.

Inca also had a long-standing partnership with Fujifilm, which sells Inca devices and also supplies specialist inkjet inks to the business. 

Fujifilm announced a new wide-format strategy last summer, along with two new models.

In a statement, David Burton, marketing director, at Fujifilm Wide Format Inkjet Systems said: “Fujifilm and Inca Digital have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for more than two decades. We’re immensely proud of all we’ve achieved working with them in pioneering the development of UV wide format inkjet systems, powered by Fujifilm inkjet technology and Fujifilm UV inkjet ink.

“More recently, Fujifilm’s strategy has shifted away from being a technology partner and distributor working closely with OEM partners. Instead, we have pivoted to become a developer of wide format systems in our own right, taking full control of the design and manufacturing process and leveraging Fujifilm’s worldwide subsidiary network to target volume sales at a wider audience.

“Some time ago, we recognised that the wide format market had reached a point of maturity, where print speeds and quality improvements were increasingly marginal, so we identified an opportunity to invest our inkjet expertise into developing a range that reset expectations around value, usability and ROI.”

He said the ‘new blueprint for wide format’ concept would be the focus of Fujifilm's stand at the upcoming Fespa show in Berlin. “The new Acuity Prime and Acuity Ultra R2 printers are the tangible early evidence that this new approach is the right one for Fujifilm. More new product announcements and additions to this range are planned at Fespa, with others being worked on in the background.

“We remain incredibly proud of what we achieved working with Inca Digital over many years and remain committed to supporting our existing Onset customers.”

The Inca buy will take Agfa back into the market for high-speed high-end industrial inkjet production devices, where it was active in the past with the Dotrix and M-Press Tiger devices.

Vincent Wille, president of Agfa’s Digital Print & Chemicals division said the two firms would make a powerful combination.

“The combination of Inca Digital’s manufacturing knowhow and Agfa’s technical expertise, worldwide presence and excellent service networks will allow us to bring unparalleled printing solutions to our customers and to adapt seamlessly to their needs in this rapidly evolving space,” he said. 

“This investment leverages and strengthens our position in the high-end and high speed wide format market as a whole and specifically in the promising packaging segment.”

Inca’s product range includes the Onset X and Onset X HS series with optional robotic automation, and the Spyder X.

Its Onset M B1 sheetfed device is also sold by Fujifilm as the Acuity B1. 

Inca has also been developing the Speedset for Screen, a single-pass inkjet 11,000sph B1 sheetfed press for folding carton packaging applications that uses water-based inks.

The planned roll-out of this device was delayed by Covid-19.

Other projects include the joint development of an inline print engine in collaboration with corrugator manufacturer BHS Corrugated, first announced at Drupa 2016. It also built a 1.6m-wide prototype inkjet web press and worked with Edale as part of this development.

“I can see why Agfa would want Inca, but what has surprised me more is that Screen would sell it at all,” noted an industry source. 

In its most recent results, for the year to 31 March 2021, sales at Inca fell by 41.5% to £18.5m as sales were curtailed by a drop off in demand at its core signage and point-of-sale markets due to the pandemic. 

North America is the firm’s biggest market.

Inca made a small operating loss of £52,000, compared with an operating profit of £333,000 the prior year, and invested £2.7m in R&D activities.

The firm employed an average of 156 staff, and also received just over £1m via the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

In his commentary Inca CEO and CTO Stephen Tunnicliffe-Wilson said that Fujifilm had stopped ordering machines during the financial year and ran down its inventories because of the pandemic impacts.

Inca developed a new market for after-market machine upgrades, and he said the financial year concluded with a new Heads of Terms being agreed between Fujifilm and Screen on behalf of Inca “and a renewed joint focus on machine sales”.

Regarding today’s Agfa news, he said the acquisition would allow the two firms to combine their technological know-how “to become a leading digital packaging press manufacturer worldwide”. 

“Our new parent has shown long-term commitment to the digital printing market and we are extremely proud and look forward to becoming part of the Agfa family.”

Inca was originally a spin-off from Cambridge Consultants, which exhibited a small inkjet printer at Ipex 1998.

Inca’s Eagle was the first wide-format UV inkjet device for signage and display, back in 2000.