| Who we are and who we were: Panini past and present |
The Panini Group
The Panini sticker and card division is part of an important international group which, in Italy and most major European countries, is composed of 4 divisions. In addition to the sticker and card Division, Panini has a Comic Division, a Comic distribution Division (Pan Distribuzione, where Pan stands for Panini...) and a New Media Division (Panini Interactive, which develops and carries out Internet and multi-media projects).
The Panini Group: History and Background Info
Panini was founded in 1961 with the launch of its first Calciatori/Football Players collection. The founders, the Panini brothers, had already opened a news stand on Corso Duomo in Modena in 1945 and by 1954 had started the Panini Brothers Newspaper Distribution Office.
The company remained under the control of the Panini family and grew to reach an annual turnover in excess of 100 billion lira.
In 1988, the company was sold to the Maxwell Group, which imposed a series of managerial changes through foreign management. After years of financial difficulties, Panini was bought by Bain Gallo Cuneo and De Agostini in 1992. It took only two years of careful administration to return to its past glory. Panini then joined the Marvel Entertainment Group. The management, however, headed by Aldo H. Sallustro, was maintained, and the headquarters remained in Italy.
On October 8th, 1999, Panini was bought by Vittorio Merloni's Fineldo SpA, an Italian conglomerate engaged in the manufacture of various consumer products and financing businesses, together with the Senior Management of Panini.
Recently, Panini has acquired the company World Foot Center, which deals with the distribution and promotion of football merchandising, both for clubs and for the French national team. It has also acquired a major share in DigitalSoccer Project, which develops revolutionary software in the sports sector. Moreover, the manufacturing of adhesive paper, represented by the Adespan division, has been sold to Avery Dennison, the world leader in the adhesive paper market.
The Panini Group, (total workforce 705 on December 31th, 2006) with its head office in Modena (Italy) and subsidiaries in all the major European markets, Chile and Brazil, is the world leader in the sticker market, the 4th biggest European publisher for children, the leading Comic distributor in Italian bookstores and is developing a strong programme in the field of multimedia. In 2006, its consolidated turnover was 579 million euros, distributing products to more than 110 countries. Further information is available at "http://www.paninigroup.com".
History of Panini UK Ltd
It was not until 1978 that Panini came to the UK in force with Football '78. Since then, Panini has published a diverse range of sticker collections, from football collections, to pop, to TV series, along with Disney collections and great toy brands such as Barbie™ and Action Man. Some of the most popular current collections include The Simpsons, The Champions League and the Scottish Premier League. Although Panini is most famous for its sticker collections, it has a range of other products, such as trading cards, telephone cards and children's comics and magazines. |
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Online News
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15/02/2008: 2007 Lombard Elite Prize recognizes Panini’s excellence
To Milano Finanza, Lombard and PricewaterhouseCoopers "Panini represents an example of excellence that can support the external growth of the Italian national productive system".
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06/11/2007: Panini and A.C. Milan present their online e-printing service
Panini and A.C. Milan reinforce the partnership between the two companies, both world renowned for excellence and distinction in their respective sectors, with the launch of their innovative, new online e-printing service.
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15/06/2007: PANINI STICKERS BECOME A VIRTUAL COLLECTION !
Now Panini football stickers can be collected online too! The Panini virtual football collection went on the web at the beginning of June on www.coca-cola.com/football
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04/06/2007: A NEW VERSION OF THE MYPANINI™ SERVICE IS NOW AVAILABLE.
It allows not only the creation of your own stickers, but you can also personalise sticker albums
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