A year in the making and four years after CVC tried to float the expanded business, ink maker Flint Group is to be sold to Goldman Sachs and a Koch Industries subsidiary.

Goldman Sachs merchant banking division has announced that it has partnered with Koch Equity Development Flint Group’s entire share capital from funds advised by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Koch will invest with Goldman Sachs in a newly formed entity that will acquire Flint Group.

Established in Detroit in 1920 as the Howard Flint Ink Company, Flint has grown over the years through a succession of acquisitions including two under CVC’s ownership.

It now claims first or second places in most of the market segments it serves, operating 137 sites in 40 countries and employing 6600 people.

Flint chief executive Antoine Fady says management are excited about the “planned new ownership”, and the opportunities it presents: “The investment by Goldman Sachs and Koch is a clear vote of confidence in our vision, strategic plans, and ‘can do’ culture.”

At Goldman Sachs, Martin Hintze says the acquisition “fits well into our strategy of investing in leading global franchises and growing them organically and through acquisitions”.

CVC acquired US-based Flint Ink Corporation in 2005 and the resulting group bought Day International in 2007. CVC had already bought ANI, the ink business of Akzo Nobel and BASF Printing Systems.

Reuters reported that the deal will reduce Flint’s debt, positioning it for further planned acquisitions and greater focus on packaging as demand from newspapers and magazines decreases. CVC had tried to sell the business before, with the Goldman-Koch proposal emerging over the past year.