Ilford follow-up: Good News, Management Byout

[francois]

I just got the news that Ilford has acquired by its management…

Article in french is here.

Edit: removed the Google translate link, Bob provided a much better translation via the thelocal.ch website.

[RFPhotography]

English version here.

No guarantee of success, of course. 

“We want to use the property firm’s resources to help Ilford Imaging Switzerland, which is currently in great difficulty,” Métrailler told the paper.

Sounds like they may try to sell some of the property assets, maybe a sale/leaseback to generate cash.  If they're struggling under a debt load, generating cash may not be enough and a reorganisation through bankruptcy may still be necessary.

It's interesting that when the companies split several years ago, then management of the former Ilford bought what is now Ilford Photo and it was being spun off because management of the, now, Ilford Imaging felt the film business was in decline.  Ilford Photo continues to do well, apparently, with its film business and its Harman line of inkjet papers and the company that wanted to toss the film business to the scrap heap is in trouble.

[francois]

English version here.

No guarantee of success, of course.  

“We want to use the property firm’s resources to help Ilford Imaging Switzerland, which is currently in great difficulty,” Métrailler told the paper.

Sounds like they may try to sell some of the property assets, maybe a sale/leaseback to generate cash.  If they're struggling under a debt load, generating cash may not be enough and a reorganisation through bankruptcy may still be necessary.

It's interesting that when the companies split several years ago, then management of the former Ilford bought what is now Ilford Photo and it was being spun off because management of the, now, Ilford Imaging felt the film business was in decline.  Ilford Photo continues to do well, apparently, with its film business and its Harman line of inkjet papers and the company that wanted to toss the film business to the scrap heap is in trouble.

I've also learned that 20 employees have already left the company…

Yesterday, I read an article and a management byout was supposed to be very unlikely due the sums involved. Now, it looks like only two managers were involved in rescue operation (source).

Edit: added some info.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Should the graphs of the holding company go upwards now?
https://www.duedil.com/company/OC318072/paradigm-global-partners-llp

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
July 2013, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[RFPhotography]

Not sure where DueDil got those numbers.  Paradigm is a private company.  There are no numbers for any period except Mar/11.  I suspect that the numbers for that period were estimated based on where Ilford was at at the time of acquisition in 2010.

[Mark D Segal]

It looks like breathing space. They still need a strategic investor with larger sums of money to stave off bankruptcy. Not clear how this will turn out, but it's the best news in a while.

[francois]

It looks like breathing space. They still need a strategic investor with larger sums of money to stave off bankruptcy. Not clear how this will turn out, but it's the best news in a while.

That's what emerged from an interview. They are buying time and the byout is a temporary solution.

AGEFI article here (in french).

[Ernst Dinkla]

That article is a bit harsh on Ilford's attempts to change course towards digital photography in the 1990's. It was already involved in inkjet ink developments before Epson appeared on the market. For Iris, Encad and some other brands. The same for media. Kodak and Agfa-Gevaert did not do better I would say.

Given the images of the factory, there is more done there than converting media from other sources. You do not need chimneys like that for cutting to rolls and sheets.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
July 2013, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[francois]

…
Given the images of the factory, there is more done there than converting media from other sources. You do not need chimneys like that for cutting to rolls and sheets.
…

Initially I thought that they might use that equipment for the new coated film intended for agriculture but since this new product is still at the research state, chimneys must be used for something else.

[MHMG]

Given the images of the factory, there is more done there than converting media from other sources. You do not need chimneys like that for cutting to rolls and sheets.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
July 2013, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

Ernst, The current Google satellite imagery for the Ilford plant in Marly, Switzerland shows a pretty conventional coating and converting plant, IMHO. Room for R&D as well, but I'm not seeing any big chimneys...and definitely no large water source that would be required to manufacture its own base papers at that location. Is there another Ilford Imaging plant you are referring to?

In earlier times with high demand for photographic materials, industrial-sized chimneys would have been required in large scale manufacturing of photographic gelatin, but again, I'm not seeing the chimneys you refer to in the satellite imagery I pulled off of Google maps for the Ilford plant in Marly.

cheers,
Mark

[francois]

Ernst, The current Google satellite imagery for the Ilford plant in Marly, Switzerland shows a pretty conventional coating and converting plant, IMHO. Room for R&D as well, but I'm not seeing any big chimneys...
…

Mark,
I'm also sure to have seen a picture with big chimneys in an article… but it's true that from the Google (and Bing) imagery, there's nothing that looks like that. So, it might just be an old photo of that industrial site?

As for a water source, there's a small river just south of the factory (200-400 m) and a much larger one on the west side.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Mark,

There was somewhere an image of the factory that showed some metal chimneys but I can not find it anymore. Not the huge vertical tanks that are visible on other images. From other articles and videos I understand that there is a significant coating facility but the media base is purchased.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/the-tech-of-photo-paper-how-it-s-made-1091227

Schweizerisch, German and French:
http://www.srf.ch/sendungen/schweiz-aktuell/zugunglueck-kein-weiteres-todesopfer-ilford-marly-vor-dem-aus

Another indication that Ilford aimed at the proofing paper market is the license they got (January 2013) for the production of Kodak Matchprint Pro coated media. Tecco and another company were bought in the same period.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
July 2013, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[MHMG]

... From other articles and videos I understand that there is a significant coating facility but the media base is purchased.

My take on it, too, but without definite facts (like a tour of the factory) I can't confirm. Thus, I can only say that my strong sense is that Ilford Imaging's expertise is in sophisticated multi-coating formulations and coating production know-how, an expertise that would have been derived and well-earned in the glory days of the silver halide photographic era.  Paper mills and paper manufacturing require yet a different expertise and the plants are commonly located directly at a water's edge because much water is needed in paper manufacturing. Hence, if one company excels in paper making and another in coating technology, there's a logical reason to believe they will form synergistic production alliances. I say that in the context of the Canson Baryta Photographique with its uncanny coating resemblance to Iflord GFS yet with slight differences likely due to base sheet manufacture, but again, it's an simply educated guess not a fact that I can declare with certainty.

cheers,
Mark

http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com