Prospects of a successful investors' agreement for Manroland have improved according to the insolvent press manufacturer's administrator with a break-up of the company seemingly the most likely outcome.A press release issued this morning (4 January) by the court appointed administrator Werner Schneider stated that negotiations with interested parties had taken place over the past few days.

Would-be industry suitors linked with the insolvent German manufacturer include KBA, Océ, which formed a digital partnership with Manroland in 2010, Shanghai Electric - owner of the web offset press manufacturer Goss, Swiss newspaper press manufacturer Wifag, and the world's largest offset press manufacturer Heidelberg. But, with overcapacity an ongoing problem amongst press manufacturers, it is thought that these companies would be more interested in Manroland's patents and know-how than the jobs and production capacity associated with them. Interest is also understood to have come from companies outside the printing industry.

Schneider stressed that he had received "serious interest" in all three of Manroland's manufacturing sites. "We now have parties seriously interested in all three production sites in Augsburg, Offenbach and Plauen, with whom we are involved in ongoing negotiations," he said.

Schneider added that the ultimate aim continues to be the sale of "key company segments by the end of the current insolvency proceedings on 31 January" in order to ensure continued operations and safeguard as many of the company's 6,500 jobs as possible.

Given the promising interest from prospective buyers, Schneider believes that this remains a "feasible aim", although he added "nothing has been signed yet".

Manufacturing at all three production sites has continued "without any restrictions" thanks to the efforts of the administrator and Manroland management, which have thus far prevented the cancellation of orders. Two 96-page Lithoman presses recently took up operation, according to the administrator, and another is due to be delivered within a few days. The sheetfed division will have shipped 29 presses by the end of January while, based on the current order situation, production will continue beyond 31 January. All financial commitments are being met through the interim finance facility agreed last month while the services business for existing customers has reportedly not been affected, although the administrator for Manroland GB warned of potential delays in getting spare parts.

Speaking prior to Christmas, Heidelberg chief executive Bernhard Schreier said the company was keeping a close eye on developments at Manroland, and how events could impact upon Heidelberg's own business.

"We have set up a special task force just to get information," said Schreier. "We will never have this chance again to get so much information on a competitor [and] we will look whether there are opportunities for us."

Schreier appeared to rule out any Heidelberg interest in Manroland's web offset wing, and described web offset as having "the weakest potential for the future". However, he also said that parts the sheetfed market were "not sustainable for the long-term either".

Heidelberg does see a potential opportunity to leverage its global service and support operations to provide support for Manroland customers.

Schreier said: "Yes we are interested, because in general we are always there for our graphic arts customers. But it is not so easy because it involves different documentation, parts and know-how, so we can't just step in and do that from tomorrow.

"We have always said there is an opportunity for us to make service for third parties. That could be a third party in the printing industry, it could be a windmill supplier."