The digital imaging and print solutions provider hopes to capitalize on its "many natural synergies" with VUTEk's digital inkjet technology.Digital imaging and print solutions provider EFI is staking its claim to the printing industry's future through expansion and acquisition.
With its newly inked agreement to acquire VUTEk Inc., the company is working to position itself as a leader in an industrywide printing transformation from analog to digital.
The agreement has Foster City, Calif.-based Electronics for Imaging Inc., acquiring Meredith, N.H.-based VUTEk for $281 million in cash.
"By adding market-leading VUTEk grand format solutions to that portfolio, EFI offers its customers another important revenue stream and a means to capture a greater share of customers as they strive for market differentiation," said Cary Sherburne, industry consultant and president of Sherburne and Associates.
The purchase is expected to benefit both companies in long-term market reach initiatives.
"There are many natural synergies between EFI's core expertise in digital printing innovation and VUTEk's digital inkjet technology, and we are both leaders in the ongoing industry transition from analog to digital printing," said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI, in a press release.
Sherburne said EFI is positioning itself as a company with a mission to help printers effect the analog-to-digital transformation and is also building a product portfolio that aligns with that mission, from front-end workflow to its Fiery family of RIPs (raster-image processors) to proofing and MIS.
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"For printers to survive and prosper in an age where print is no longer the default medium for business communications, they must expand their range of offerings and build new revenue streams. To do this, companies must transform their operations from analog to digital in nearly every respect," said Sherburne.
Successfully maneuvering the push from analog to digital will continue to be a prevailing challenge within the industry.
Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005.
