GIDUE S.p.A., a press manufacturer active in the label and packaging market since 1999, filed on December 22, 2008, for voluntary restructuring, the equivalent of Chapter 11 in the USA and administration in the UK. The company, based in Turate, Italy, had been enjoying a record year of sales (€34 million) through July 2008, but the global recession “has hit the company far beyond any possible expectation, causing an unexpected strong downturn in sales, which are no longer sufficient to cover the company’s fixed costs.” The statement was made January 8, by Federico d’Annunzio, GIDUE’s managing director. D’Annunzio and his wife, Cristina Toffolo, are the owners of GIDUE.

Nuova Castagnoli S.r.l., a former supplier of GIDUE for offset print units, vision systems and hot stamping technologies, has agreed to take over service of existing presses and of new sales. D’Annunzio is also managing director of Nuova Castagnoli.

“An installed base of more than 320 presses worldwide, with high customer satisfaction and confirmed innovation through the entire product range made the choice evident: Nuova Castagnoli must continue the activities of GIDUE, despite the gloomy times ahead in the world economy,” says d’Annunzio. “There is a clear responsibility to existing customers to be taken care of, but also technology and flexibility will make the difference with an agile, sustainable and high-technology oriented structure.”

Negotiations are ongoing with local trade unions so that Nuova Castagnoli can hire part of GIDUE’s former workforce, and that the existing plant in Turate (northwest of Milan) could be kept in place.

Nuova Castagnoli is planning to change its trade name to GIDUE – Nuova Castagnoli S.r.l. within the first quarter 2009, says d’Annunzio, adding that the company is also planning to expand its existing manufacturing sites in Florence.

“Nuova Castagnoli will take special and full care of all the existing GIDUE customers, offering original service and spare parts at cost prices, and preparing new dedicated service contracts to make service and satisfaction to GIDUE customers one of its core activities,” he says. “New technologies in offset, flexo and multi-process are under development to further enhance the technological advantage of the latest product lines for the label industry.”