Mitsubishi Pencil Company takes over LAMY

The Mitsubishi Pencil Company, the company behind the well-known uni brand founded in Japan in 1887, is taking over C. Josef Lamy GmbH and the LAMY brand. According to the Lamy headquarters in Heidelberg, “the LAMY owner family has gone through an extensive process to find a buyer who will lead the company founded by C. Josef Lamy in 1930 into the future with expertise, experience, love for the LAMY brand and a commitment to Germany as a business location”. This process has now been successfully concluded with the sale of all shares in the company. The annual turnover of Mitsubishi Pencil is several times that of Lamy.

Focus on internationalisation and expansion of digital writing

According to the statement, the reasons for the sale are “that a strong partner was sought for the further development of the growth area of digital writing and for the expansion of international sales”. Mitsubishi Pencil brings this to the table and at the same time ensures the retention of the headquarters and production at the Heidelberg site as well as investments in the further development of the company and brand. Shigehiko Suhara, sixth generation President and CEO of Mitsubishi Pencil: “We have the greatest respect for the history and strength of the LAMY brand. We believe that the vision and corporate culture of Lamy and Mitsubishi Pencil harmonise perfectly. We are also confident that the acquisition of Lamy will provide a strong joint platform for future growth and increased shareholder value for both Lamy and Mitsubishi Pencil.” Vera Lamy, former co-partner of C. Josef Lamy GmbH, explains: “We placed great importance on finding a company that has the strength and the heart to open a whole new chapter for LAMY together with the Lamy employees and all our partners. We have found this company.” Her brother and co-partner Markus Lamy adds: “The core of the LAMY brand will be retained and further developed. ‘Made in Germany’ will continue to play a decisive role in this. This was and is of the utmost importance to us.”

Exclusive Gifts remains responsible for the LAMY B2B promotion channel

Andrè Hammelsbruch, Area Sales Manager for Promotion Products at Lamy: “The B2B concept, which we realigned in 2017 with the Hamburg-based distribution company Exclusive Gifts B2B GmbH specifically for the D-A-CH promotional products industry, will continue to be optimised and expanded in the future with the Hamburg B2B professionals in a retailer-friendly manner. All existing contracts and agreements will of course remain valid.”

Many points of contact

Mitsubishi Pencil and Lamy have already had points of contact in the past and have always valued each other. In addition to its innovative strength, Mitsubishi Pencil also brings sales power and will thus strengthen LAMY. At the same time, the LAMY brand products will complement Mitsubishi Pencil’s range in the premium segment. At the same time, Mitsubishi Pencil wants to accelerate the technological development of LAMY. This technological development will focus in particular on the growth area of digital writing.

About Mitsubishi Pencil 

Mitsubishi Pencil, headquartered in Tokyo, was founded 137 years ago and today employs more than 2,700 people worldwide. The company has 22 international sales offices and operates 11 manufacturing plants. Mitsubishi Pencil is recognised as a leading company in the manufacture of stationery. Mitsubishi Pencil has made a name for itself by producing high quality writing instruments ranging from simple pencils to sophisticated ballpoint pens, marker pens and mechanical pencils. The wide range of stationery products includes the well-known uni-ball ballpoint pens, which are known for their innovative waterproof pigment ink. The uni brand also includes the water-based Posca ink markers, which can be used on a variety of surfaces, and the innovative Kuru Toga mechanical pencils with automatic lead rotation.

About LAMY

LAMY stands for “Made in Germany” and has its headquarters and production facilities in Heidelberg. The company employs more than 340 people. LAMY is known worldwide for high-quality designer writing instruments with timeless modern aesthetics and perfect functionality. Today, the LAMY brand is represented in more than 80 countries with more than 15,600 sales outlets. These include around 200 mono-brand stores.

www.lamy.com • www.exclusive-gifts.com

Image: The Lamy company building in Heidelberg.