USA/UNITED KINGDOM • As Montagu announced on 12 November, the Eastman Kodak Company sold its Flexographic Packaging Division to Montagu Private Equity LLP, a private equity firm headquartered in London, UK. In an interview Chris Payne, president of Kodak’s Flexographic Packaging Division, talks now about this recent sale and how these both companies fits together.
How will Kodak’s flexo business operate under Montagu?
Chris Payne: Under the new ownership the flexo packaging division will become a separate company and will operate as a self-contained standalone business. That includes all of the operations, such as R&D, Manufacturing, Sales, Service, IT and Finance. I will lead the new company as its CEO and, importantly, the current flexo packaging leadership team, my team, will continue to manage the business, including all the staff that work in the division today. Finally, we will sell the same Kodak branded flexo products, including our flagship Flexcel NX System, that our customers buy from us today.
What will the sale mean for Kodak’s Flexcel NX customers?
For Flexcel NX customers there will be very little change. It’s the same product, the same people and the same brand. At a fundamental level, we have been changing the nature of flexo, transforming flexo for the last ten years and we’ve been doing that in strong collaboration with all of our partners including our customers. Our strength comes from our customers. We’ve a track record, and it’s really ingrained in what we do, of helping our customers to differentiate – and none of that will change.
Under Montagu ownership, the flexo packaging team will have the focus, agility and resources to maintain a constant stream of innovation for our customers and continue the journey of growth and transforming Flexo into the premium print process of choice for packaging.
In order to read the interview in full length please visit our sister magazine’s website flexo-gravure.com!