Benny Landa has climbed many mountains in his decades-long dream to reinvent the printing process, but it appears he will need a new financial investment lifeline to continue the sale of Nanographic printing technology under his watch or, perhaps more likely, find a competitive digital printing press manufacturer to buy Rehovot, Israel-based Landa Digital Printing outright.
After Landa Digital Printing recently sought bankruptcy protection for being unable to service approximately $516 million in debt, Israeli technology news site CTech, published by Calcalist, reported on July 10 that the Israeli Central District Court has given Benny Landa until the end of August to find a possible buyer or fresh investor to craft a potential settlement with its secured creditors. The court also ruled Benny Landa would retain control during Landa Digital Printing’s restructuring attempts, rather than appointing a court-ordered trustee to take control.
Its biggest secured creditors, holding loan and equity stakes, are German billionaire Susanne Klatten and the Winder investment arm of Sweden’s Rausing family. Said to be the richest woman in Germany, Klatten also holds a large stake in automaker BMW, and owns specialty chemical company Altana AG and industrial investment firm SKion, among other holdings. The Rausing family is best known for its Swiss-based Tetra Pak food packaging giant, which was founded by Ruben Rausing.
According to CTech, more than $1.3 billion has been invested in Landa Digital Printing since its inception. Benny Landa remains the company’s largest shareholder with a 36.7% ownership stake, followed by Altana (28.9%), SKion (16.4%), Winder (10%), Landa Labs (4.6%), and the company’s employees (3.1%).
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