ZINK Imaging, a high-tech startup focused on a new technology in digital printing, is purchasing a Konica Minolta manufacturing plant near Burlington, N.C. that was being shut down.
ZINK said Thursday it expected the deal to close in early July.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
ZINK will use the plant to make its patented paper that is embedded with dye crystals which are activated by heat produced by ZINK-enabled printers. According th ZINK, the paper avoids the need for ink in printers and also produces “high quality, long lasting, durable and affordable images.”
"We are quite pleased to be able to extend our manufacturing operations beyond our headquarters in Massachusetts to the Konica Minolta facility in North Carolina," said Wendy Caswell, chief executive officer at ZINK. "The Konica Minolta manufacturing site is synergistic with our existing operations which made the decision to purchase the facility a natural one."
The plant is located in Whitsett, N.C. near Interstate 40/85. It was built in 1989.
The workforce at the facility has been reduced from hundreds to some 60 production employees and senior management. They will be retained by ZINK, according to the Triad Business Journal.
Konica Minolta decided to shut the plant due to the increasing popularity of digital photo images and decreasing demand for traditional photo paper.
