German media production service provider the Evers-Frank Group has bought the former manroland AG interest in ppi Media, becoming its principal shareholder.

IT corporate the Bertsch Innovation Group is also taking an interest, and Norbert Ohl and Martin Ruhle will continue as managing directors.

Ohl says the company will continue to provide its entire product portfolio to all of its customers in all of its markets, “from software for newspaper planning to iPad apps”.

He also envisages new development and expansion in digital markets as a result of the new structure.

“ppi Media will leave the corporate structure of its former parent company, profiting in future from the lean, flexible structures and short communication channels that a medium-sized, family-owned company has to offer,” he says.

Evers-Frank board spokesman Kay Julius Evers says “close cooperation” with ppi Media will be a further groundbreaking step towards an integrated and, in particular, cross-media print and media group.

ppi and Bertsch will merge classic print solutions and digital innovations into new cross-media products and services, pooling expertise to expand its market position, BIG director Ulrike Handel says.

“Bertsch has many years of experience in developing technology, creating complex media databases and advising diverse clients from the publishing industry, as well as a global interdisciplinary network.”

Evers-Frank turned itself from 100-year-old printing business to digital service provider, and last year winning software house Comosoft as a partner. It has about 1000 staff, with sites in Berlin, Alzey, Neumünster and Hamburg, and turnover of more than 300 million Euros.

“ppi Media expands our network for digital services by adding software solutions for the publishing industry,” says business development executive director Jens Silligmüller. “In the publishing industry, ppi Media stands for highly-automated process solutions for the planning and production of newspapers, prepress software and cross-media ad booking and editorial systems.”

Bertsch consists of 20 companies in IT, publishing, agencies, sports, music and fashion, with 250 staff in six locations in Germany. Its annual turnover is over 20 million Euros.