Bertelsmann Printing Group

In 2005, Bertelsmann and Axel Springer consolidated their gravure printing operations under the umbrella of Prinovis.[9] Reasons for this included the industry-wide price decline and overcapacities.[10] The Hamburg-based company was marked leader in Europe from the beginning.[11][12] Bertelsmann indirectly owned 74.9 percent, with the subsidiaries Arvato and Gruner + Jahr each holding a 37.45 percent stake. Axel Springer owned the remaining 25.1 percent.[13] In 2012, Prinovis became part of Be Printers, a newly-established division of Bertelsmann for the majority of the printing companies.[14][15] This move was part of a larger reorganization of Bertelsmann under CEO Thomas Rabe who assumed his position in 2012.[16] In 2015, Axel Springer sold its stake in Prinovis,[17] making Bertelsmann the sole shareholder.[18] In the process, Bertelsmann gained the opportunity to further streamline its printing operations.[19]

Shortly after the restructuring, Bertelsmann announced in 2015 the establishment of the Bertelsmann Printing Group, effective January 1, 2016.[20] All printing companies of Be Printers and the printing operations previously belonging to the sister division Arvato were bundled under the umbrella of the new corporate group.[21] Several other service and production businesses, e.g. storage media manufacturer Sonopress, followed.[22][23] At the time of its founding, the Bertelsmann Printing Group earned annual revenues of some €1.7 billion and had more than 8,000 employees.[24] Independent of the merger, the brands of the individual printing companies, service and production operations remained intact.[25] Over the course of the business year, it had a significant positive effect on the profit situation of the entire corporate group.[26][27] In 2017, additional companies from the digital marketing business of Arvato have changed over to the Bertelsmann Printing Group.[28]

Since 2016, the Bertelsmann Printing Group has been one of Bertelsmann's eight corporate divisions.[29][30] It encompasses all of Bertelsmann's worldwide offset and gravure operations, as well as several other service and production businesses.[31] The subsidiaries are AZ Direct, Berryville Graphics, Campaign, Coral Graphics, DeutschlandCard, GGP Media, MBS Nürnberg, Mohn Media, Offset Paperback Manufacturers (OPM), Prinovis, the rtv media group, Sonopress and Vogel Druck.[32]

Initially, the Bertelsmann Printing Group was led by Bertram Stausberg and Axel Hentrei as two equal Chief Executive Officers.[33] Since Bertram Stausberg stepped down in the fall of 2016, Axel Hentrei has solely headed up the group.[34][35] The headquarters are located in Carl-Bertelsmann-Strasse in Gütersloh.[36] In total the group is active at 15 facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as Mexico and Asia.[37]

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