Press and equipment maker Heidelberg is selling its futuristic Print Media Academy, while its sale of finishing systems subsidiary Gallus appears to have fallen through.

The German company says the PMA sale is part of planned "site and structural optimisation" measures.

The buyer - at a price in "the low double-digit million-Euro range - is a Luxembourg-based investment company, with a corresponding purchase agreement signed. "The sale paves the way for a new, forward-looking use of the building at a central location in the city," it says.

The few employees still working at PMA had already been moved to Wiesloch/Walldorf last year. Heidelberg will retain its headquarters and representative office in rented premises in the PMA.

The company reported last week that the purchasers of its Gallus Group subsidiary, Swiss company Benpac Holding had not completed the purchase, making the agreed Euros120 million (A$190 million) payment. It says it will "assert its rights", with the five sites and around 430 employees remaining with Heidelberg.

With the market remaining challenging due to a worsening COVID 19 situation, Heidelberg says it is "systematically continuing its transformation course".

Its third quarter results saw year saw a continuing of the upward trend in sales and incoming orders that has been ongoing since May 2020.