Pelikan To Be Sold To The Hamelin Group

On May 23rd, Pelikan announced that it was, “currently in negotiations with prospective strategic buyers to dispose substantially all its assets and business interest.” To this end, they hired KAF Investment Bank Berhad to advise and negotiate the terms of the transaction. The news took many by surprise and was met with quite a buzz in the industry. There has been a lot of speculation about who the prospective buyer might be. We now know that Holdham SAS, a holding company for the French based Hamelin stationery group, has entered into an agreement with Pelikan International Corporation Berhad (PICB) to acquire the Pelikan Group GMBH (PGG) which will allow PICB to exit its core stationery business. Many regulatory hurdles still have to be overcome in Germany and PICB’s shareholders will need to vote in order to approve the acquisition, but the deal is expected to proceed unimpeded with finalization anticipated for some time in the fourth quarter of this year, tentatively before the end of October. PICB also needs to carveout a number of its assets that are not included in the acquisition (e.g. Pelikan Procurement Sen Bhd, Pelikan Taiwan Co. Ltd., eCom Logistic GmbH, MOLKARI, and Kruezer Produktion + Vertrieb GmbH). The sale price has been reported at 136 million euros ($148.5 million) which Hamelin will pay in cash. The bulk of the proceeds are to be distributed to the company’s shareholders. In yesterday’s filing with Bursa Malaysia, Pelikan cited challenges with their distribution channels, production technology, and the global economy as the rationale for selling the brand which they’ve held onto since 2005. Wholesalers, Pelikan’s main customers in the past, have increasingly been replaced by more direct distribution channels, a change that has resulted in high complexity and increased margin pressures. At the end of the day, Pelikan felt that they lacked the resources necessary to continue to invest into the changes within those channels resulting in the company being less competitive in the global marketplace. Read on to learn just how the deal is expected to unfold.

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‘Who You Calling A Dummy?’ – Pelikan’s Schaumuster Models

June 22, 2023 By Joshua in Reference Tags: Attrappe, Dummy, Facsimile, Factice, Fountain Pen, Pelikan, Schaumuster, Simulado 6 Comments

Pelikan Schaumuster dummy pen and ink bottle

While less relevant in today’s world of online retail and home delivery, department stores were once the predominant hub of consumerism. We’ve all done a little window shopping at some point in our lives. Shop keepers have used window displays as a form of marketing to draw in customers and boost sales for as long as most of us can remember. It was Harry Gordon Selfridge (1/11/1858 – 5/8/1947) of the UK who has been credited with bringing inspiration to the window display. His combination of salesmanship and artistic sensibilities fortuitously collided with improvements in the plate glass manufacturing process which allowed for ever grander window displays though simplicity still ruled the day back in the early part of the last century. Fountain pens, once the primary writing implement for most people, were much more ubiquitous than they are today. They could be found at just about any five and dime, general store, and apothecary to name but a few places. Of course, there were dedicated specialty shops as well. Later, the big-box stores would come into existence selling general merchandise and specialty items. Pen manufacturers certainly had an interest in empowering their retail partners in an effort to boost sales and one of the ways they did so was via advertising. Elaborate displays were created to highlight their products, some of which competed for prominent space in shop windows and glass counters. Rather than place a perfectly good fountain pen on display where it might be damaged, non-functioning display pieces were made, models that closely approximated the real McCoy but were merely shadows of the genuine thing. Pelikan had many names for these dummy models. In their native tongue, the two most commonly used terms were ‘Schau-Muster’ [ʃau-mʊstɐ] and ‘Attrappe’ [aˈtrapə] which roughly translates to ‘display model’ and ‘dummy’ respectively. Read on to learn all about these dummies and their unique place in Pelikan’s advertising history.

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Review: M800 Green Demonstrator (2023)

June 7, 2023 By Joshua in Reviews Tags: Fountain Pen, Green Demonstrator, M800, Pelikan 30 Comments

Since the pandemic, Pelikan has made it a habit of putting out fewer releases than what was historically the case which gives each new model coming to market a little more gravitas. You might expect that the extra time between releases would actually allow a bit more space for creativity. Imagine my surprise then when Pelikan brought us a new M800 which, at first glance, seems more like a retread of the past. According to Pelikan Schreibgeräte, customers from the United States clamored for a transparent green M800 circa 1991. Pelikan acquiesced, releasing the Transparent Green M800 demonstrator in 1992. It was an unnumbered model, similar to the special editions of today. A total of 3,000 M800 fountain pens were set aside specifically for the North American market with a smaller run of pens supplied to both Italy and France. The North American importing company had certificates printed at their own expense in order to indicate the limited nature of the run, a trick of marketing that saw this model dubbed “The Collector’s Edition.” The suggested retail price of that fountain pen, at least in the United States, was $450. The iconic Blue Ocean M800 would soon follow in 1993 which would arguably make the M800 Transparent Green a test case whose success may well have facilitated the numerous limited and special editions that have come to market since. Fast forward thirty one years and Pelikan once again brings another M800 Green Demonstrator to market. While the appearance of the new model is very similar to the old, there are key distinctions worth noting. Are they enough to set this one apart from its predecessor? I’ll allow you to be the judge of that. Read on to learn about all of the nuanced features that set these two models apart.

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Pelikan On The Brink Of Selling A Major Asset

May 27, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Asset Sale, Pelikan, Pelikan Group GmbH, Pelikan International Corporation Berhad 27 Comments

Reporting out of Malaysia has been ratcheting up over the last four weeks and the news is big. Let’s get straight down to brass tacks. Pelikan International Corporation Berhad (PICB) is looking to sell a major asset. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on May 23rd, Pelikan announced that it, “is currently in negotiations with prospective strategic buyers to dispose substantially all its assets and business interest.” In addition to the Pelikan brand, a number of acquisitions over the years has given PICB ownership or control of Geha, Herlitz, and Susy Card. Exactly which entities are on the table in these negotiations is unclear but speculation and the company’s own filings indicate that it could well be their entire European stationery division. Pelikan International has worked to steadily improve its profitability following an asset streamlining exercise in 2014. This exercise has included the disposal of loss-making businesses and non-core assets. You may recall Pelikan’s most recent divestment, the sale-leaseback of their logistics center back in July 2021 which netted the company a one-off gain of around $44 million which improved their balance sheet, enhanced shareholder value, and yielded a special dividend. Obviously, the sale of their European stationery division would be orders of magnitude larger than anything we’ve seen from the company recently. What all of this means for our beloved inks and fine writing instruments remains to be seen. If you’ll continue reading, I will endeavor to give some historical context and try to tease out just why we may be seeing such a move now.

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News: M1000 Raden Red Infinity

May 12, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Fountain Pen, M1000, New Release, Pelikan, Raden, Red Infinity 22 Comments

There is something extra special about getting wind of not just one but two new fountain pens back-to-back. Late last night, I wrote about the M200 Pastel-Blue fountain pen due out in mid-June. Nibs.com was the first to bring news of the next Raden model to hit the streets as well, the M1000 Raden Red Infinity. The M1000 model line has had some heavy hitters in the Raden category over the last 10-15 years. These have included the Moonlight (2011), Sunlight (2013), Starlight (2014), Sunrise (2016), Green Ray (2020), and White Ray (2021). For these ultra-exclusive models, artists employ traditional Japanese techniques to embellish the cap and barrel of a standard M1000 with small pieces of shimmering abalone shell. Every piece is crafted by hand which accounts for the relatively few models made and their correspondingly high price tag. Each pen is signed by the artist and hand numbered using the Maki-e technique. Similar to recent past releases, this will once again be a limited edition run of just 400 pieces available worldwide. Pelikan’s product literature states that “The design pattern has no beginning and no end and stands for continuity which is a lucky design that implies long family happiness, prosperity, development, and professional success.” Availability is anticipated for some time in June 2023. Read on to learn all that we know of this new Raden model.

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News: M200 Pastel-Blue Special Edition

May 11, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Classic series, Fountain Pen, M200, New Release, Pastel-Blue, Pelikan 35 Comments

I know that many of you have been anxiously waiting for the day to come when Pelikan announces the release of an M200 Rose Quartz Special Edition but I’m here to tell you that today is not that day. Looking back on historic trends, that announcement doesn’t usually come until August, and it has even been as late as October so you will have to be patient a while longer. That doesn’t mean you have to go away empty handed. Pelikan took to their social media channels today in order to announce the newest pen off the factory floor, the M200 Pastel-Blue Special Edition. If this newest addition to the Classic line is giving you that old familiar feeling, that might be because it bears a striking resemblance to the M200 Pastel-Green (2020) from three years ago as well as the M200 Gold-Marbled (2019). Sparingly used in the past on only a handful of models, Pelikan has really embraced white resin over the last decade. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least ten different models that have used that material in recent years, more than all of the prior decades combined. This new M200 is slated for a mid-June launch and retailers should be taking pre-orders anytime now. Read on to find out what you can expect from Pelikan’s newest fountain pen.

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Pelikan On The Move? – Local Politicians Propose Relocating Pelikan’s Factory

April 7, 2023 By Joshua in News Tags: Manufacturing Plant, Peine-Ost, Peine-Vöhrum, Pelikan 15 Comments

Pelikan's factory at Pelikanstraße 11, 31228 Peine, Germany

If you have been following the blog with any regularity, then you know that I have endeavored to keep you abreast of the publicly reported goings on at Pelikan’s factory. I think that it is important to be aware of those developments as they can give us an insight into Pelikan’s future in Germany which will almost certainly impact the fine writing instruments that we adore. For those not keeping tally, I’ll provide a brief recap. Despite being owned by a Malaysian firm, all of Pelikan’s fine writing instruments continue to be manufactured in Germany, just as they have been since the company started producing pens in 1929. From 1906 until 1973, the company’s administrative and production spaces were maintained in Hannover on the Podbielskistraße. In 1973, it was determined that the facilities on the Podbielskistraße were inadequate and could no longer be expanded to meet the company’s needs. Production was then moved to Peine-Vöhrum, 24 miles east of Hannover, where it remains today. The number of employed factory workers has varied over the years, but the current count is somewhere around 240. Moving the factory was a real growth moment for the company and they are now clearly on the verge of another. Nearly two years ago, protest erupted at the plant. The grievances aired by employees centered around delayed back pay, austere fiscal policies, and a lack of investment/modernization at the plant. The unrest certainly captured the attention of several elected officials representing that area of the country. Pelikan has since made good on their financial obligations and the turmoil has quieted. In an effort to improve the aging facilities, Pelikan recently sought to enter into an agreement with the US based Hillwood Group which would see them sell the land adjacent to their factory for the purpose of building a logistics center, a facility whose additional capacity could prove very useful for shoring up Pelikan’s own aging facilities. Those plans had the support of local government, and all seemed to be moving forward. Then, just last month, news broke that Pelikan was looking into the prospect of having a new factory built as part of a sale-leaseback arrangement with the Hillwood Group who would then also own the premises that the factory now occupies as well as the newly constructed production space that would be erected on site. Hillwood would then maintain a long term lease with Pelikan for use of the new facilities. That’s a lot, but now you’re all caught up. Oh, yeah, just one more thing. It now looks as if a proposal is on the table to relocate Pelikan’s manufacturing plant all together. Read on to learn more.

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