123inkt makes further acquisitions

September 9, 2022

The 123inkt group has made further acquisitions, consolidating its strong position in the European collections market.

Diek Holdings, part of the 123inkt group, has acquired 100% of the waste cartridge shredding business, Waste Zero World and the cartridge collector, Core Servicios Informaticos. Both companies are based in Madrid.

Diek Holdings B.V. is one of 45 subsidiaries in the Spelta B.V Group, the parent company that owns 123inkt. Diek Holdings also owns the following cartridge collectors: Netherlands based eeko ccc B.V. and France based LVL SAS. In addition to acquiring Core Servicios Informaticos and Waste Zero World, Diek Holdings also owns 100% of the Barcelona based cartridge collector FBO Organisation SL.

In China, Jiaxing Vivicolor Printing Technology Co., Ltd (Vivicolor) serves as the ink cartridge remanufacturing production function for the 123inkt group. Vivicolor is located in Jiaxing Free Trade Zone near Shanghai and is the only Chinese subsidiary of Digital Revolution B.V., a subsidiary of Spelta BV and the company behind the 123inkt.nl website.

The Waste Zero World cartridge shredding plant can process up to forty tonnes of cartridges per week. They are providing end of life solutions for surplus and non-viable cartridges, especially as more cartridges are being collected than are needed for current reuse demand.

In April this year, sources told the Dutch media outlet Financieele Dagblad that the owner has put the company up for sale and is said to fetch €500 million ($525 million). According to the report, the parent company achieved a turnover of €162.8 million ($164.2 million) in 2019 with an EBITDA of about €28.5 million ($28.7 million). Since the company profited hugely from online sales during the pandemic, the EBITDA is now said to be between €50 million ($50.4 million) and €60 million ($60.5 million).

In 2021 123inkt.nl reported that it had almost 4 million customers and has grown with several online platforms into other areas diversifying from only toner cartridges, including venturing into the MPS market in 2021 by launching its 123business platform.

Our take on this: The lifeblood of the cartridge reuse community is access to empty cartridges, so it is a concern that so many collectors are now part of one group, especially if the group is sold to an OEM or competitor based outside of Europe.