Cinpres, the global leader in assisted gas injection technology, has signed a remarkable deal with a German partner that will lead to a revitalised global product offering and a major overhaul of its presence in the German market.
The move was announced on the eve of the K Show, the world’s leading plastics industry fair.
The deal is with Maximator, the market leader in high pressure technology and Germany’s leading supplier of high pressure industrial gas systems. Under the agreement:
Cinpres will sub-license its technology to Maximator in the German market.
The two companies will merge their global product offering.
Maximator will have exclusive rights to represent Cinpres in Germany; all other arrangements in the country have been terminated.
The way was cleared for the deal two years ago when Cinpres won a long legal tussle with US-owned competitor Melea over control of a suite of technology licenses.
The Cinpres victory, which came after protracted trans-Atlantic court proceedings, was so emphatic that Melea was liquidated – and Cinpres even bought its remaining licenses from the liquidator.
Maximator had represented Melea in Germany and won the (grudging) respect of Cinpres executives for its work.
“Germany is a critical market and Maximator caused us many problems over the years,” said Mr Butler. “We had the strongest global presence in the industry but weren’t matching that in Germany.”
In terms of merged technology, Cinpres will concentrate on gas controllers, generators, electric compressors and liquid cool systems; Maximator will concentrate on compressor stations, air-driven gas boosters, hydraulic-driven compressors, water assist systems, proportioning and dosing systems, nozzles and injectors.
For Cinpres, the move caps a global brand revitalisation. After winning its case, the firm was recapitalised by its parent company and set about improving its global representation. New agents and distribution arrangements have been secured in India, Brazil, The Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Spain and France.
Talks with Maximator opened tentatively in 2009 but “progressed rapidly” when the potential benefits to the companies and their customers became clear. “We jointly had a hard, objective look at the market, and what each company does best,” said Mr Butler.
“Our gas controller is copied across the world. Why? Because it has a better design, is packaged better, is more cost-effective and has a better valve than anything else on the market.
“But nozzles, injectors, and actuators call for precision-engineering in a beautiful CNC-equipped manufacturing facility … precisely what Maximator can offer. Bluntly, they can do that better than us,” he said
“In the German market Maximator has unrivalled customer relationships. They did a great job for Melea and will continue to work with the same technology now the licenses are owned by Cinpres. They’ll be able to offer a complete range of technical solutions for almost any requirement – and they’ll have our total support in doing so,” said Butler.
“It’s a powerful proposition for Maximator and will make life simpler and easier for customers. There’ll be no further confusion over who-owns-what technology.”
Henning Willig, Managing Director of Maximator, said: “We reached agreement on both these platforms just before the K Show. But it’s been obvious for some time that there was real customer benefit in combining our offerings in this sector.
“The two companies have different, and complementary, core skills but share values and a culture which has many common features.
“The path for this agreement was opened by Cinpres winning its global legal battles with Melea, and then buying the remaining Melea licenses from the liquidator. Once that had happened, there was little to stand in the way of us working together for the benefit of customers.
“I don’t believe there is any assisted injection molding solution that we cannot now provide. We share, with Cinpres, a commitment to helping customers reduce cost, improve quality and maximise profitability, because that is what generates customer loyalty.”
