Barco sells dotrix to Agfa – Gevaert, thus taking a further step in its exit from the Graphics market
KORTRIJK, January 5, 2004. Barco announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell the dotrix activity to Agfa-Gevaert. dotrix develops, manufactures and sells digital printing solutions for industrial applications.
dotrix is the last fully consolidated Barco subsidiary in the graphics market. Over the past two years Barco has been retreating from this market. The acquisition of dotrix by Agfa-Gevaert is a further major step in this process.In 2002 dotrix successfully introduced its new inkjet printing technology and in 2003 it concluded a number of important international contracts. Now is the right time for dotrix to become part of a larger company that is dedicated to the graphics business, thus giving dotrix much better access to this market. In 2003 dotrix realized sales of almost euro 5 million and made a loss of about the same amount due to heavy investments in Research & Development.
The price of the transaction is around euro 6 million, including goodwill.
About dotrix
Located in Gent, Belgium, dotrix was founded in September 2001 as a spin-off from Barco. As a start-up company, dotrix quickly gained market leadership in pre-press solutions for security and decorative printing applications, offering industrial printing workflow systems in various market segments. In 2002, dotrix launched its state-of-the-art full color digital inkjet press, which is being marketed under the brand name “the.factory” (read: "the dot factory"). This press applies the advanced technology of the single-pass inkjet color engine (SPICE). dotrix's customers acknowledge the advantages of this high-speed, high quality press for flexo short run labels, flexibles, cartons, etc., as well as the economic return they receive on this equipment.
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, is active in three key areas of imaging technology. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco has a network of subsidiaries, distributors and agents in almost 100 countries. Barco is quoted on Brussels/Euronext and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company.
For more information, please contact
