Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

HP acquires Dutch printing company for $629 million

Global computing major Hewlett-Packard Company Friday said it had acquired Indigo, a Dutch company that makes industrial and commercial printing systems, for $629 million.

The deal comes close on the heels of HP's acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation for an estimated $25 billion to create a computer behemoth with combined revenues of more than $87 billion.

"The acquisition of Indigo, which offers the broadest range of digital colour printing presses in the industry, positions HP for a major thrust into commercial printing, a $400 billion market ripe for digital transformation," said a statement issued by HP.

HP currently owns 14.8 million of Indigo's common shares, representing 13.4 per cent of the company's outstanding shares. As part of the agreement, HP will acquire the remaining shares of Indigo for approximately $629 million.

The acquisition extends HP's printing systems portfolio beyond inkjet and laser-jet technology into a third high-speed colour print technology. With the addition of Indigo, HP will also sell offset-quality digital press solutions and services.

"HP intends to lead the transformation of commercial printing into a Web-enabled, all-digital industry," said Vyomesh Joshi, president (imaging and printing systems) of HP.

"The speed, image quality and cost effectiveness of Indigo's technology will now be available to a larger audience through HP's brand strength and global reach," he added.

Indigo is a $200 million business with a growing installed base, a highly profitable consumables business, a direct sales force and experienced engineers.

Headquartered in The Netherlands, the company has 1,100 employees and has research and development and manufacturing operations in Israel. Shares of Indigo jumped 14.13 per cent, or 78 cents, to $6.30 on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Thursday.

HP shares, however, fell 51 cents, or 2.8 per cent, to $17.70 on the New York stock exchange, continuing the slide that began when the company disclosed its plans Monday night to acquire Compaq Computer.

Indo-Asian News Service

Tell us what you think of this report