History

1991 - 2000

1991 Würzburg

Koenig & Bauer increases its stake in Planeta to 75.2% and renames it KBA-Planeta AG.
Two new newspaper presses - the KBA Journal and the KBA Colora - are launched on the market.
The company posts a turnover of DM686 million. Group turnover (excluding KBA-Planeta), at DM 1.134 billion, tops one billion Deutschmarks for the first time.

1992 Würzburg

Transfer of the entire Rapida division to KBA-Planeta.
Market launch of the Rapida 72.
Sale of the first anilox offset press to a US customer.
175th jubilee celebrations.

1994 Würzburg

Koenig & Bauer acquires the remaining 24.8% interest in KBA-Planeta

1994 Planeta

Shipment of the first eight-colour Rapida press for 4-over-4.

1995 Würzburg

Koenig & Bauer merges with Albert-Frankenthal to create Koenig & Bauer-Albert AG (KBA).
Dr. Hans B. Bolza-Schünemann retires as company president and is appointed deputy chairman of the supervisory board.
Shipment of the first shaftless newspaper press.

1995 Planeta

KBA demonstrates an all-digital printshop workflow at Drupa. Market launch of the Rapida large-format series.
Shipment of the first ten-colour Rapida for 5-over-5.

1996 Frankenthal

Shipment of the world's first publication rotogravure press for a web width of 3.6m, a TR 10B.

1997 Planeta

KBA and Israeli pre-press specialist Scitex enter a joint venture to develop the 74 Karat, a digital offset press for short-run colour which is previewed at Imprinta in Düsseldorf. A jv enterprise, Karat Digital Press GmbH, is established in Radebeul.

1997 Frankenthal

Frankenthal launches the world's first totally shaftless commercial web offset press, the Compacta 215.

1998 Würzburg

Koenig & Bauer-Albert merges with KBA-Planeta and reverts to the name Koenig & Bauer Aktiengesellschaft (KBA). The Radebeul facility remains the group profit centre for sheetfed offset.
Group turnover exceeds DM1.6 billion.

1998 Radebeul

Planeta celebrates its centenary with guests from throughout the world. 20,000 locals pack the halls on the open day. A new press is unveiled: the KBA Rapida 105, a high-performance B1 press.
The sheetfed division in Radebeul generates sales worth DM578 million, more than twice the total for 1992.

1999 Würzburg

At Ifra99 in Amsterdam Koenig & Bauer previews the KBA Cortina, a revolutionary new press for newspaper production in the 21st century.
A new, high-speed double-width, single-circumference press, KBA Prisma, is added to the KBA press range.
Group turnover rises to more than DM1.7 billion.

1999 Radebeul

The sheetfed division posts another double-digit rise in sales, to around DM700 million.
Customers beta-testing the 74 Karat digital offset press give glowing reports of its performance.

2000 Würzburg/Frankenthal/Radebeul

The 74 Karat digital offset press goes into serial production.
At Drupa, KBA demonstrates new advances in every product line, including a new B2 sheetfed offset press, the Rapida 74, and the biggest web press at the show, the 64pp Compacta 818 for high-quality commercial offset. It also unveils a working prototype of the KBA Cortina.
Group turnover in 2000: DM2.1bn.