Lüscher AG, Switzerland, founded 60 years ago as a family concern. The firm specializes in the development and production of quality high-value, mechanical and electronic solutions for the Offset, Flexo and Letterpress sectors, as well as for digital large-format printing and the screen printing market.

At the end of September Hans Lüscher, until now proprietor and president of the board of directors of Lüscher AG in Leutwil, transferred the majority holding in his company to the Austrian investment company PAInvest thereby initiating arrangements to secure the succession for his company and its employees. With that participation PAInvest intends to support the strong growth which Lüscher AG has achieved thanks to the quality of, and demand for, its products.

PAInvest, an associated company of the Austrian Global Equity Partner (GEP), has majority holding in medium-sized businesses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Wilhelm R. Tschol, director of PAInvest, took over the position of president of the board from Hans Lüscher (60) who continues to serve on the board of directors. Lars Janneryd (68), who until now was the member of the board responsible for sales and marketing, retires for reason of his age.

Kurt Steidle has been appointed managing director. In his last position with Kodak he was responsible for the company Kodak Plychrome Graphics in Austria and Switzerland. Based on his previous responsibilities for the development, production and quality control of the Newsetter thermal platesetter, he brings with him profound experience in the Computer-to-Plate sector.

Since the year 2000, with the introduction of the XPose! platesetter Hans Lüscher and Lars Janneryd have continuously increased the firm’s turnover from 25 million Swiss Francs (about 16 million euros) to 55 million Francs (about 36 million Euros) and sold more than 850 XPose! thermal platesetters world-wide. e large-format models such as the XPose! 160 for 16 A4 pages and the XPose!190 for 32 pages have sold well in recent months. A further contribution to the turnover was made in the meantime by over 400 JetScreen installations which revolutionized screen-printing production with their Computer-to-Screen (CtS) technique.

Utilizing the revenue from the CtP and CtS sectors Lüscher developed the JetPrint 3530 UV large-format printer which, with its format of 3.05 x 3.50 metres, is the largest flat-bed printer in the world and has meanwhile become well established in the market. There was great demand for the XPose! UV conventional when it was introduced at IPEX 06. Employed in the production of UV-sensitive, conventional offset plates, whose price is almost half that of thermal plates, it therewith offers printers substantial cost savings. Following successful trials of the first units, more than 20 orders have been booked for delivery from January 2007.

As Lüscher informed its distributors and customers, the current production range will be retained, service and support will continue within the present framework and those products under development will be brought to market on schedule.

On Performance Achievement Invest Beteiligungs AG

Performance Achievement Invest (“PAInvest”) buys majority shares in interesting companies with value increase potentials in the medium size company segment in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The companies are being successfully enhanced or re-oriented over a medium-term keeping period. The PAInvest-Group considers its position to be an active partner of the portfolio companies.

Successful awards for MP International

MP International was awarded several projects in September. They include the ITS Asia Pacific Forum organized by Land Transport Authority and Intelligent Transportation Society (Singapore). It will be held from 14 to 16 July 2008. Successful bids for the last quarter of this year are Integrative Medicine Asia, The Partner Connection and Innovation.

Commented Sylvia Phua, MP International’s CEO, “Earlier this year, we handled the prestigious Diplomatic Conference which was held in Singapore for the first time. We are pleased to end the year by clinching several tenders. It’s gratifying that most of the projects are awarded by clients whom we have worked within the past or referrals from clients who are happy with our service. This is a big vote of confidence for the MP team.”