Ilford Imaging bankrupt

[chamon]

Good news for ilford paper lovers a Japanese company bought ilford bankruptcy 

 Charles

[mac_paolo]

Good news for ilford paper lovers a Japanese company bought ilford bankruptcy 

 Charles

Good! Any link?

[howardm]

I'm keeping my 'enthusiasm' in check until they actually ship product, hopefully the *same* as the original Ilford, not just a 'we bought the name'.

[chamon]

www.chugai-photo.co.jp

[Ernst Dinkla]

Something was brewing, that Japanese company and an Australian photo accessory distributor. It is a brand name deal, nothing else, no production in Swiss etc.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
April 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[JayS]

Well that link didn't tell me much..  Will try a translate, but not going to be too easy..  Sad if it is a name transfer only and not the technology..  Another "cloud" victim..  Far fewer want prints these days..

Jay S.

[Ernst Dinkla]

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/photo-news/540601/ilford-galerie-photo-paper-set-for-1-3m-comeback

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
April 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[Simon J.A. Simpson]

I'm keeping my 'enthusiasm' in check until they actually ship product, hopefully the *same* as the original Ilford, not just a 'we bought the name'.

Would seem not to be a “name” deal.  Quoting form AP:
“Earlier this month, Australian photo website ProCounter first reported that the ‘bold bid' for the ‘Ilford and Galerie names' would result in production of Ilford Galerie paper resuming at the Marly plant.” [my emphasis]

But not holding my breath…

[howardm]

your breath = my enthusiasm

When the finished product is available for purchase, I'll believe it and look into buying it.

[enduser]

Google translate.

(: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President: Head Office Nakaseko MamoruShigeru) Chugai Photo Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (.. CR Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd) is, Sea Earl Kennedy & Company, Inc., with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia with, Ilford (ILFORD Get the assets and their associated trademarks), Ilford Imaging Europe GmbH (ILFORD Imaging Europe GmbH headquarters jointly: You founded the Germany Bergisch-Gladbach). Ilford Imaging Europe Inc., the sale of the main product groups inkjet existing "Ilford Omni Jet (ILFORD OMNIJET)" and commercial wide-format inkjet paper "Ilford Gallery Prestige (ILFORD GALERIE Prestige)" and Fine Art inkjet paper I will continue for the whole world. He does product development, manufacturing, logistics, sales and marketing of the future, the company will continue to put into market products better based on the long-term strategy. To pay tribute to the history and tradition of Ilford brand, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. photo will continue to support the product development and growth strategy and technology experience gained in the imaging business for many years. Sales of Ilford products in Japan, jet graph Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. photo (head office:. Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President: Shindo Katsura-shi) will do as a sole agent.

C R Kennedy is a large distributer of scientific, photographic and industrial optics in Australia. Brands they represent include Pentax, Sigma, Ricoh, Hassleblad, Sandisk, Schneider, Zeiss and many others.  Not a small operator and decades in the business.

[OliverS]

Remeber, also Tecco (a former part of Ilford) is a part of them.

http://blog.tecco.de/en/teccopress-information/

I can check if it´s only a "Name" Transfer or if they plan to produce again, come back to you.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Remeber, also Tecco (a former part of Ilford) is a part of them.

http://blog.tecco.de/en/teccopress-information/

I can check if it´s only a "Name" Transfer or if they plan to produce again, come back to you.

This surprises me. Since it was announced that Ilford Imaging acquired Tecco, I have never seen a news item appear on Tecco's web pages describing they were still part of that company in insolvency. It mentioned (with some sadness) Ilford's fate in an announcement for a Tecco distributed Ilford paper alternative though. Could call that self pity now :-)

Is still doubt that the Marly factory will be resurrected, Swiss wages are among the highest in the world.


--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
April 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[OliverS]

I asked in Marly, and the current situation is, that Chugai owned the brand "Ilford" and the brand names like "Prestige".
Not the machines or any Equipment.

Here is an official with Paul Willems about the Situation, in german.
http://www.fotointern.ch/thema/top-stories/

The material on stock in Marly will be sold by Paul, but than Marly is closed.
If and what Kind of paper Chugai will pack in the boxes in future , he don´t know.

Therefore, only the names (brand) were sold to Chugai.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Good article including the former employees' comments at the end. It must have been a tough period for all of them. Ilford processes, Cibachrome etc are on the way of the dodo, like Autochrome went 60 years ago. The difference is that a high end technology like Cibachrome will never reappear in the same quality. Polaroid film resurrection in the Impossible Project showed that already. We may be able to make Daquerrotypes in the kitchen but Ilfochrome needs more than that. Interesting to read that the OEM production, HP Premium Plus for example, could not bring enough profit, hard competition and Swiss wages being the cause. We may see changes in OEM media catalogs as a result too. Ilfoflex for the Lightjet will be gone too, only FujiFilm products left then for that 70" chromogene  proces?

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
April 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[lelouarn]

I was at Photokina today, and what do I see ? An Ilford booth ! So I asked them what the situation was. They told me, that all the paper-related stuff had been bought, and that production of all papers had restarted.
They are still ramping up distribution, but he told me that in principle, all their papers (including my favorite, Gold Fiber Silk) were available.

[Mark D Segal]

I was at Photokina today, and what do I see ? An Ilford booth ! So I asked them what the situation was. They told me, that all the paper-related stuff had been bought, and that production of all papers had restarted.
They are still ramping up distribution, but he told me that in principle, all their papers (including my favorite, Gold Fiber Silk) were available.

Yes, I learned of this from a US firm about a month ago. Same paper, same name, same factory, same packaging, same specs, available in USA some time in October according to them.

[howardm]

That is really terrific news.  I hope it works out for them.

[Mark D Segal]

Who really knows, could be issues of regaining market share, etc.; but the basic reasons for the bankruptcy at Marly, from what I understand, were unrelated to the paper business per se, which I also heard was doing quite well. IGFS was their "bread and butter paper", and for good reason.

[howardm]

I dont think they'll have too much issue w/ market share.  in reality, they weren't gone that long and I think a lot of people were still working through their on-hand stock and there was a lot of product in the distribution pipeline and on dealer shelves.

Anyway, certainly a positive development and if they can produce it and keep the price in-line, I hope they are successful.

[Mark D Segal]

You may well be right, but one retailer here in Toronto, with stock, told me customers are turning to alternatives because of the uncertainties that existed. We don't know how many and whether they will return, but I tend to agree there will likely be good uptake once availability is assured.