Business News
Agfa Graphics to acquire assets of Gandi Innovations Holdings LLC., a leader in large format inkjet printing systems
Monday 16. November 2009 - Acquisition enables Agfa Graphics to significantly increase its presence in large format inkjet printing
Gandi’s portfolio of mid-range large format printers is completely complementary to Agfa Graphics’ inkjet business
The proposed transaction will allow Agfa Graphics to serve a large installed base.
Agfa Graphics announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire most of the assets of Gandi Innovations Holdings LLC’s North American operations and the shares of its principal foreign subsidiaries.
Gandi Innovations is a global leader in large format inkjet systems.
Since May 2009, it has been operating under CCAA protection in Canada and Chapter 15 in the USA.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory and court approval and the successful closing of the transaction. The price of the transaction is not being disclosed at this point of time, but it will have no major impact on Agfa’s financial debt.
Over the period 2001-2009, Gandi Innovations has created a large installed base of inkjet printing engines, reaching a sales peak of 127 million USD in 2008. Sales in 2009 have strongly suffered from the economic crisis (affecting in particular investment goods) and the uncertainty surrounding the company. Gandi Innovations’ long established team has a wealth of pioneering expertise and engineering excellence in large format printing technology. Gandi Innovations’ customers include many of the world’s leading Point of Purchase and large format printing companies. Over the years, they have come to rely on the company’s vision, reliability and cutting-edge technology.
Gandi Innovations was founded in 2001 and has its headquarters and its production facilities in Mississauga (Canada). The Group employs 256 highly skilled staff and operates worldwide through sales offices and distributors.
Combined with recent announcements on Agfa Graphics’ :M-Press Tiger industrial flatbed inkjet press and the launch of new printing engines in the :Anapurna large format range, the acquisition of the assets of Gandi Innovations strengthens Agfa Graphics’ leadership in large format inkjet printing systems.
“The combination of Gandi Innovations’ products and Agfa Graphics’ products will result in substantial growth for our inkjet business based on an even more complete system portfolio,” said Richard Barham, Agfa Graphics’ Vice President Inkjet. “This is an important step in implementing our Inkjet growth strategy. As our own portfolio consists of entry-level and high-end inkjet systems, Gandi Innovations’ mid-range systems are a 100% complementary fit with our existing inkjet technology.”
Gandi Innovations’ CEO and co-founder Hary Gandy added: “Joining Agfa Graphics offers Gandi Innovations’ staff and customers tremendous opportunities for the future. The combined capabilities and coverage in customer service and research and development will accelerate the launch of new products, deliver new business opportunities and further expand our service to our customers.”
About Agfa-Gevaert
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world’s leading companies in imaging and information technology. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), for the healthcare sector (Agfa Healthcare), and for specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials).
Agfa is headquartered in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries around the globe. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 3,032 million Euro in 2008.