Faber Flags Acquires Shipmate Making it the Biggest Flag Producer

AMSTERDAM, May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Amsterdam based Faber Group consolidates its position as Netherland's largest Flag, Corporate and Event branding manufacturer

Family owned Faber Flags consolidates its position in the Netherlands with the acquisition of the Netherland's leading Event and City Dressing supplier.  The Faber Group has an international network of Printing Facilities and Sales Offices specialising in the provision of Soft Signage, Event branding and Flags to major corporate users, resellers and individuals. The acquisition of Shipmate brings the group additional digital printing facilities within the Netherlands to supplement their digital hubs in Poland and France, and large scale screen printing operation in Bangkok. The acquisition also strengthens the Event and City Dressing resources within the group allowing the Group to deliver cost effective large scale event production and installation across Europe.

Martin Koppelaar, the Faber Group's CEO, said of the deal: "The acquisition of Shipmate will bring increased cost benefits in the Netherlands through joint purchasing, shared infrastructure and warehousing etc. Shipmate is a family owned business and shares a customer focused culture and passion for quality like Faber but importantly it brings extra resources for event delivery as well as production, increasingly important for our international clients."

The two companies have been working together on events and city dressing in the Netherlands since 2011 and have already established a shared warehouse and distribution facility. The Shipmate management team will remain unchanged and the company will continue under its own name.

Group synergy will allow further expansion in the Events and City Dressing markets where both companies have already established strong reputations in many large scale events - Shipmate with the start of the 2010 Tour de France in Rotterdam and the Faber Group being the preferred print supplier for many major international events including Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games. The UEFA recently chose the Faber Group for the 2012 European Football Championships.

The acquisition process has been managed by the ABN-Amro bank.

About Faber Flags

Faber Flags is the leading specialist marketing fabric print producer. The Group specialise in flags, banners and displays. What started out as a sail maker in 1933 has now developed into one of the world's biggest printers with operations in 12 different countries. The Faber Group employs 250 people worldwide.

About Shipmate

Shipmate is a leading supplier and installer for events and city dressing. What started out as Verkade's Flag Factory in 1936 later developed into Shipmate and capitalised on the opportunities in the Corporate and Events market. It grew  a strong position in the small and medium business sector, (local) governments and events. Shipmate in the Netherlands employs 30 people.

SOURCE Faber Flags