Menno Jansen and Erik van Holten are stepping back from the company they founded, QIPC-EAE, as private equity investor Holland Capital comes in to support a new chapter of industrial automation.
With the duo taking a back seat, Tom van Holten has been named as group chief executive.
Built on the development of web press register and colour control systems, QI Press Controls acquired German press controls company EAE in 2014, half a century after the German company had been founded. Responding to a changing newspaper industry, QIPC-EAE expanded into intralogistics with the foundation of EAE Solutions in 2018.
Announcing the cooperation this week – under which QIPC-EAE takes Holland Capital as a strategic partner – group chief executive and managing director Tom van Holten said the group would further invest in product development, digital innovation and international growth within the graphics industry.
“This partnership with Holland Capital enables us to accelerate our innovation roadmap and further strengthen our position as a trusted automation partner for newspaper and magazine publishers worldwide,” he said.
Overseeing the investment is Holland’s investment director Laurens Platteeuw, who heads the group’s DACH region. “QIPC-EAE represents a unique combination of German engineering expertise and advanced software capability,” he said. “With its strong installed base and leading technology in press automation, we see significant opportunities to further develop QIPC-EAE as the global technology partner for the newspaper printing industry.”
Founders Erik van Holten and Menno Jansen will “remain involved as shareholders and strategic advisers, ensuring continuity of industry expertise and supporting the long-term development of the company”, a statement says.
Holland Capital is described as an independent private equity firm with more than 40 years of experience “investing in promising Benelux and German SMEs with growth ambitions”, focussing on healthcare and Technology. It says it “actively pursues” platform and buy-and-build investments across Germany and the Netherlands, the investment in QIPC-EAE being the DACH team’s seventh transaction.
Menno Jansen is pictured (seated, left) with Tom and Erik van Holten, with Laurens Platteeuw standing