Konica Minolta Acquires Verga in Italy: Establishing Sales Subsidiary in Italy, the Growth Driver Country of Inkjet Textile Printing, and Accelerating Global Business Development

Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) (TOKYO: 4902) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Verga IT S.r.l., an Italian inkjet textile printer sales company (Verga), under which Konica Minolta acquires Verga. Through the acquisition, Konica Minolta has established Konica Minolta IJ Textile Europe S.r.l. (Headquarters: Bregnano, Como, Italy; President: Akiyoshi Ohno), its first overseas sales subsidiary for industrial inkjet business, aiming to enhance the sales and services organization in the inkjet textile printer market in Europe and within its proximity, with a great growth potential.

The worldwide textile printing market has been going digital rapidly, as digital inkjet technology has better responded to market requirements of the apparel industry. The current requirements include printing highly detailed and precise designs which was difficult to produce through traditional analog printing, and also printing with excellent quality through production of small quantities of many different designs. Inkjet technology has realized them all. In addition, as inkjet textile printing uses significantly less water than analog printing, more and more factories have become interested in adopting digital technology to transform themselves into more environmentally-considerate businesses.

While Europe accounts for majority of the global digital textile printing market, most of the European digital textile printers are located in Italy. In the Como region, renowned as high-grade apparel manufacturing cluster, textile printers have pioneered installation of inkjet textile printers.

With the establishment of IJIT, Konica Minolta will enhance its sales and service capabilities and offer solutions that meet market needs and further improve customer satisfaction through high-quality and speedy services. The company will also keep an eye on the Turkish market, with a good growth potential in the future, where inkjet textile printing is making inroads locally.

About Konica Minolta

With its philosophy "The Creation of New Value,” Konica Minolta, Inc. is a leading technology company of creative minds that provides innovative solutions to businesses and the broader society. www.konicaminolta.com/inkjethead/