Huangshan Jinruitai takes over Fujifilm's China factory and European channels, domestic film material giant makes a leap abroad
With the structural changes in the traditional offset printing market and the rapid acceleration of digital printing technology, global imaging and printing equipment giants are speeding up the bold integration and clearance of their traditional heavy-asset consumables businesses. On September 9, Fujifilm officially announced that it had sold its plate manufacturing business in China to Huangshan Jinruitai Technology Co., Ltd. (JRT), a leading Chinese digital printing plate company.
As a core part of the overall deal, Huangshan JRT will also fully take over Fujifilm's plate sales network and plate-making equipment distribution business in the UK and across Europe, and will receive exclusive rights to related product brands and certain intellectual property.
This cross-border industry transaction not only marks a significant contraction in Fujifilm's global plate supply chain, but also allows a key Chinese plate manufacturer to achieve a major channel breakthrough in the international mainstream market.
Chinese factory and European channels fully changed hands, new brand 'F&J Plate' emerges
According to official confirmations, the deal was agreed on August 28 and officially announced to the industry on September 9. Neither party disclosed the specific terms or the amount involved. The transaction not only covers all shares of Fujifilm Printing Plates (China) Co., Ltd. but also fully packages its printing plate distribution system in the UK and European markets.
In the European market, Fujifilm has long relied on the Superia brand to supply high-spec environmentally friendly plates that are either process-free or low-chemical, and has operated the Platesense comprehensive service program aimed at ensuring controlled prepress output. These sectors, along with the plate-making equipment business in the region, are all included in this transfer.
It is reported that after the completion of the transaction, the Fujifilm offset printing plate business acquired by Huangshan Jinruitai will officially operate in the market under a new brand, 'F&J Plate'.
According to the schedule, the share transfer of Fujifilm Printing Plates (China) Co., Ltd. is expected to be fully completed by the end of this year. Due to the cross-border handover of multiple regional clients, logistics and warehouse restructuring, and team transitions, the transfer of sales and related operational functions in the European and UK markets is expected to be fully wrapped up in the first half of 2027.
Production base fully withdrawn to Japan, North American and domestic sales channels maintained
From the perspective of Fujifilm's global manufacturing map, this asset disposal continues its recent trend of reducing overseas heavy-asset plate production capacity. Fujifilm had already completely shut down its plate production line in the U.S. in 2022 and subsequently closed its European plate manufacturing plant in Tilburg, Netherlands in 2023.
With the divestment of the Chinese manufacturing entity, Fujifilm will consolidate its plate production capacity wholly into its self-operated factories in Japan, further advancing the extreme centralization of its global production bases.
In terms of sales regions, Fujifilm has clearly defined its retained areas. This transaction strictly excludes the four core markets of Japan, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Fujifilm will continue to supply these areas directly from its Japanese factories and retain the local sales network.
Fujifilm management openly stated that the divested plate manufacturing and sales business is very small within the group, with its revenue accounting for less than 1% of global sales and its contribution to overall group operating profit being negligible.
By cutting off the low-margin heavy consumables segment, the group can further reduce cross-border fixed asset expenditure and friction from overseas heavy-asset operations.
Huangshan Jinruitai expands its footprint, injecting five production lines and 60 million square meters of capacity into the global channel
As the buyer in this deal, Huangshan Jinruitai Technology Co., Ltd.'s takeover demonstrates the strong capability of a domestic high-end plate manufacturer.
Huangshan Jinruitai, based in the Taiping Economic Development Zone of Huangshan, Anhui, was founded in August 2006. It ranks among the top three in China and top ten globally for large digital printing plate manufacturers. The company focuses on digital printing positive thermal CTP plates, violet laser CTCP plates, and eco-friendly double-coated CTP plates. Its products enjoy high reputation in overseas markets including Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia.
According to the data, Huangshan Jinruitai currently has two highly automated modern manufacturing bases in Huangshan, Anhui, and Huzhou, Zhejiang, with a total of five high-speed multilayer coating continuous production lines, and an annual comprehensive production capacity of 60 million square meters.
This time, they successfully incorporated Fujifilm's mature plate-making assets in China, and at the same time acquired Fujifilm's direct sales network, highly loyal customer base, and patent licenses in the UK and Europe, where it has been deeply rooted for decades. This will greatly shorten the time needed to expand into the mature high-end printing markets in Europe and the US, directly achieving the critical leap from a 'domestic export manufacturer' to an 'international direct sales brand operator.'
The trillion-yuan commercial innovation segment is planning a spin-off listing, while Fujifilm focuses on high-margin core areas.
The divestment of the plate-making business and brand licensing also reflects Fujifilm's broader efforts to restructure its business and clean up its balance sheet.
Fujifilm Commercial Innovation's President and Representative Director Naoki Hamada pointed out that the company is accelerating its transformation into a 'solution-driven' business model, and optimizing the production and sales structure of the plate materials is aimed at systematically strengthening the core competitiveness of its imaging solutions segment.
Just a month ago, Fujifilm officially unveiled a striking spin-off restructuring plan: it plans to partially spin off its commercial innovation business, which has an annual sales revenue of up to 1.175 trillion yen, and push for an independent IPO listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The commercial innovation division includes imaging communications, office digital equipment, and document outsourcing management services, contributing about 35% of the group's total revenue and 63.7 billion yen in annual operating profit.
After the spin-off, Fujifilm's stake in the listed entity will drop to below 20%, achieving off-balance-sheet treatment, with most of the shares distributed as stock dividends to existing shareholders. This series of moves around asset slimming and business restructuring clearly shows that Fujifilm is firmly exiting the highly mature, slow-growth segments of traditional printing consumables and basic hardware, concentrating all capital and R&D firepower to rapidly advance into high-barrier, high-margin tech blue oceans such as healthcare, high-performance semiconductor materials, and high-end core imaging.