manroland Goss has taken a further step into the used machinery business with the acquisition of Dutch specialist GWS Printing Systems.

A statement today says GWS will be "given the chance" to act as a standalone company, maintaining its entrepreneurial approach.

Current owners Eric van Kessel and Walter Donkers - who will stay on as managers - say being part of the manroland Goss Group will allow them to develop and accelerate growth plans and increase market presence.

manroland Goss says the acquisition of GWS and Dovak - which was the official Goss service partner for Europe and Africa - are the next steps in its strategy to be "the most advanced solution provider to the web offset printing industry".

The two have already worked closely on used equipment, heatset press service and within manroland's Market-X ecommerce platform.

manroland Goss chief executive Alexander Wassermann describes the acquisition as "a logical consequence" of the many years of cooperation.

"Teaming our forces and solutions will result in an even broader portfolio to the printing industry worldwide." He says he expects the used equipment market and related services to grow in coming years, "so adding GWS gives us the chance to become an even stronger and broader supplier in this business area".

The GWS offering includes Flexweb (pictured) a system which slits and parts webs to enable double-width presses to handle a range of web-widths. Among users Spanish daily El País has two units on its KBA Commander 80 press.

In North America. GWS is represented by Florida-based The Siebold Company, the agreement covering the US, Canada and English-speaking Caribbean islands.