East German Firm Buys U.S. Company

A state-owned East German company has agreed to buy a small U.S. distributor of printing machinery in what officials said Thursday was the first foreign acquisition by a state-run East German firm.

Veb Kombinat Polygraph Leipzig Werner Lambertz, a maker of printing machinery for the graphic arts industry, has agreed to buy its U.S. importer and distributor, Royal Zenith Inc. of Great Neck, N.Y., for $25 million, according to the West German bank financing the transaction.

Royal Zenith was sold by Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp., a New York-based investment firm. DKM did not require any U.S. government approval to sell Royal Zenith, which it had owned for about 10 years, said John Fitzsimons, DKM’s general counsel.

Royal Zenith, which has been renamed Planeta North America Inc., has been Polygraph’s sole U.S. distributor for about 30 years, said Allan Malachuk, president of the U.S. company.