Merkur Grafisk

What Merkur Grafisk does

Merkur Grafisk AS was a privately held Norwegian graphic production company headquartered in Langhus, Norway, operating a 10,000 sqm integrated facility that combined offset printing (including what the company described as the Nordic region's fastest offset press), digital printing, large format printing, industrial and artisanal bookbinding, finishing services (lamination, die-cutting, foil stamping, blind embossing), creative design, warehousing and distribution. Originating from Merkur Bok- og Akcidenstrykkeri (first registered 1916, acquired by Lund and Jacobsen in 1927), the company traced its roots back nearly a century and grew through the 2019 merger with Grøset Trykk, the 2026 acquisition of Printing AS for large-format capability, and the 2026 merger with Make!Graphics.

The company served Norwegian publishers and media companies (Schibsted, Cappelen Damm, Dyrebeskyttelsen Norge), corporate customers (IKEA Norge, Volvo Car Stor-Oslo, Faun Gruppen, Toyota Material Handling, Røhne Selmer), and individual authors/photographers via the Bokfabrikken.no self-publishing portal. Revenue was generated through transaction fees on printing/binding/finishing jobs and professional services fees on design and logistics work, distributed via direct enterprise sales with dedicated account managers, B2B customer portals (AiT, Bjerch), and an e-commerce storefront for standardised products.

On June 19, 2026, Merkur Grafisk AS and Make!Graphics AS filed for bankruptcy (oppbud) at Follo og Nordre Østfold tingrett due to persistent economic challenges in the graphic production market, and all ordinary operations ceased immediately; the company is therefore recorded as closed.

Name

Merkur Grafisk

Legal name

Merkur Grafisk AS

Website

https://merkurgrafisk.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

1927

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Commercial Printing (except Screen and Books) (323111), Printing (32311)

SIC

Commercial Printing (2750), Blankbooks, Looseleaf Binders & Bookbindg & Relatd Work (2780), Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate, Promotional & Custom Print Products Distribution (CRAOALAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Prepress, Plate-Making & Artwork Services (IMALAKAM)

Keywords

• Commercial printing services
• Bookbinding services
• Large format printing
• Vehicle wrapping
• Graphic production

Headquarters

HQ city

Grorud

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Printing services: Digital printing, offset printing, and large format printing services for various materials including magazines, books, brochures, business cards, flyers, posters, and more.
2. Book binding and finishing: Both artisanal handcraft binding and industrial bookbinding services, along with lamination, die-cutting, foil stamping, and blind embossing.
3. Design and consulting: Creative services including advice, idea and design, book design and typesetting, digital design for various applications.
4. Logistics services: Warehouse (varehotell), distribution, packing, and trade show logistics services.
5. Foil wrapping and vehicle wrapping: Vehicle wrapping, interior decoration, and store profiling services.
6. Signage production: Signage and display production including facade signs, indoor signs, illuminated signs, and light boxes.
7. Bokfabrikken.no self-publishing portal: Self-publishing platform for authors, photographers, and artists to publish books with professional guidance and Norwegian production.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Merkur Grafisk is a vertically integrated Norwegian graphic production company that prints and finishes commercial and editorial materials (magazines, journals, books, brochures, business cards, flyers, posters, signage, and vehicle wraps) under one roof. It offers offset printing on the Nordic region's fastest press, digital and large format printing, bookbinding combining industrial and artisanal methods, plus design, finishing, and logistics support. Customers range from major publishers and corporates to self-publishers using its Bokfabrikken.no portal.

Product overview

Merkur Grafisk is a comprehensive graphic production company offering integrated printing and publishing services from a single location. The core offerings include offset printing (featuring the Nordic region's fastest offset press), digital printing, and large format printing. Their unique differentiator is Norway's most complete book production combining industrial-scale bookbinding with traditional hand-crafted binding under one roof—unique in Norway. Additional services span vehicle wrapping, signage (facade, indoor, light signs, light boxes), creative design services, digital solutions (digital magazines, marketing portals, digital screens), finishing effects (lamination, die-cutting, foil stamping, embossing), and logistics (warehousing, distribution, packing, trade show logistics). The company also operates Bokfabrikken.no, a self-publishing portal enabling independent authors and artists to produce professional books.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Offsettrykk (Offset Printing) Offset printing service using the Nordic region's fastest offset press, delivering short lead times and consistent quality for programs, brochures, magazines, journals, books, business cards, flyers, and posters. Serves publishers, corporates, and other print buyers across Norway.
• Digitaltrykk (Digital Printing) Digital printing service complementing offset capabilities, used where short runs, personalization, or rapid turnaround are required across the same printed materials portfolio.
• Storformat (Large Format Printing) Large format printing for banners, signs, vehicle wrapping, trade show equipment, and advertising furniture. Strengthened through the 2026 Printing AS investment for signage, large format, and decor production.
• Bokbinding - Craft and Industrial Bookbinding Combined industrial bookbinding at scale and artisanal handcraft binding executed in the same facility - Norway's most complete book production service and the only site in Norway offering both industrial and handcraft methods under one roof. Serves publishers, self-publishers, museums, and restoration projects (book covers, menus, cassettes, restoration, small-run embossing).
• Bilfoliering (Vehicle Wrapping) Vehicle wrapping service that transforms cars and fleets into mobile advertising platforms, available in glossy, glittering, or matte finishes across the colour spectrum. Also covers interior decoration and store profiling. Customer reference: Røhne Selmer anniversary car project.
• Skilt (Signage Production) Complete signage solutions including facade signs, indoor signs, illuminated signs, and light boxes, supplied and installed in all formats and executions for retailers and corporate brands.
• Ferdiggjøring (Finishing Effects) Post-print finishing services including lamination, die-cutting, foil stamping, blind embossing, and other special effects applied to printed materials as a value-added stage before delivery.
• Kreative Tjenester (Creative/Design Services) Creative services including consulting, idea and design, book design and typesetting, magazine and journal production, and digital design. Supports clients that need upstream creative work alongside downstream printing.
• Digitale Løsninger (Digital Solutions) Digital offerings including digital magazines, a marketing portal, and digital screens for multimedia communications, complementing physical print services for publishers and corporate communications teams.
• Logistikk (Logistics Services) Logistics services comprising warehousing (varehotell), distribution, packing, and trade-show logistics, providing end-to-end fulfilment for printed and decorated materials.
• Bokfabrikken.no (Self-Publishing Portal) Wholly owned self-publishing portal enabling individual authors, photographers, and artists to design, print, and publish books without a traditional publisher, with full design guidance and Norwegian production.
• Julekort (Christmas Cards) Ready-to-send Christmas cards printed on 300gsm multiart silk paper in 148x148 mm format with 4 pages, sold from the online store at NOK 25 per unit (minimum 100 units) with white envelopes included.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nordic's fastest offset printing machine
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Make!Graphics AScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026Merkur Grafisk and Make!Graphics merged to create greater capacity and broader expertise while maintaining the same reliable delivery standards. The merger combined two established companies in the Norwegian graphic production industry.
• Printing AScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 February 2026Merkur Gruppen became main shareholder in Printing AS, their long-term partner for large format production. Both companies operate as separate entities collaborating across customer accounts. The acquisition strengthens Merkur's strategic positioning in large format, signs, and decoration deliveries.
• Horizon NorgecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2022Horizon Norge provided the CABS perfect binding line installed in March 2022, enabling fully automatic perfect binding that adjusts in minutes for quick deliveries and high quality.
• Grøset TrykkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2019Grøset Trykk, Norway's first environmental printing company established in 1984, merged with Merkur Grafisk. Both companies shared strong sustainability focus with Swan Ecolabel certification. Production moved to Merkur's Kalbakken facility in Oslo.
• Luth Gruppen AScoreTechnology or IntegrationLuth Gruppen AS supplied new folding machines from Heidelberg, revolutionizing daily operations with significant efficiency improvements and reducing heavy lifting needs.
• HeidelbergcoreTechnology or IntegrationHeidelberg Stahlfolder TH82-P folding machines with P-stacker and Push 2 Stop technology for highest productivity in industrial production, achieving over 20,000 A4 16-page signatures per hour.
• TrefadderminorOthersTrefadder provides CO2 quotas for carbon compensation through Norwegian forest planting initiatives.
• World Land TrustminorOthersWorld Land Trust provides CO2 quotas for carbon compensation through rainforest conservation efforts.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Stora Enso: Nordic forest products company with paper and packaging divisions including publishing-grade papers. Adjacent ecosystem participant — supplies paper substrates used by Norwegian printers like Merkur and competes for downstream packaging/print work.
• 3M Commercial Solutions: 3M's Commercial Solutions division supplies graphic films, vehicle wrap materials, and signage substrates used by vehicle-wrap and large-format operations including Merkur's Storformat and Bilfoliering services. Enabler/upstream supplier rather than direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Cimpress (Vistaprint): Global mass-customization printing platform including Vistaprint and related brands, operating at vastly larger scale than Merkur. Comparable as a broad incumbent across commercial print and customized promotional/business products, though serving SMB and consumer channels globally rather than Norwegian enterprise accounts.
• Bertelsmann (Arvato): Bertelsmann's Arvato division includes major European print and media services operations serving publishing, corporate, and marketing customers at scale. Comparable as a broad incumbent in commercial print and integrated marketing services with overlapping customer segments.
• Quad/Graphics: Large US-based commercial printing and integrated marketing services company serving publishers, retailers, and consumer brands with similar end-customer profile to Merkur's IKEA, Volvo, and Schibsted relationships. Broad incumbent at much larger scale operating outside Norway.

Direct peers

• Aktietrykkeriet: Established Norwegian commercial printer with broad offset/digital capabilities serving magazines, books, and corporate print. Comparable to Merkur in product mix (magazines, books, marketing collateral) and Norwegian B2B customer base.
• Fagtrykk AS: Norwegian printing company identified in Merkur's own customer data as a subcontracting partner choosing Merkur over Estonian printing for Norwegian production. Operates in the same Norwegian commercial print space, confirming direct competitive overlap.
• Amedia Trykk: Norwegian printing arm of media group Amedia, operating large-scale newspaper and commercial print facilities. Directly comparable as a Norwegian offset/digital printer serving publishers and corporate clients with similar scale and customer overlap to Merkur Grafisk.
• Th Trykk: Trondheim-based Norwegian commercial printer offering offset, digital, and large-format printing with book production capabilities. Directly comparable as a full-service Norwegian graphic production competitor targeting publishers and corporate accounts.

Regional players

• Elanders: Swedish-headquartered printing group with operations across the Nordics and Europe offering commercial print, packaging, and integrated supply-chain solutions. Comparable to Merkur in commercial print scale and customer type, though primarily competes in Sweden and broader Nordic/European geographies rather than Norway specifically.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MerkurGrafisk
• Facebookfacebook.com/MerkurGrafisk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/merkurgrafisk

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Merkur Grafisk