Creo and Scitex Prepress Businesses Join Forces
HERZLIA, ISRAEL—Vancouver, Canada-based Creo Products and Scitex Corp., based here, have entered into an agreement to combine their prepress businesses in the worldwide market for digital prepress equipment. The combined entity will be a US$635 million organization with approximately 4,200 employees worldwide.
Under the terms of the agreement, Creo will acquire the assets of Scitex's digital preprint business in exchange for 13.25 million Creo shares valued at some US$537 million. Upon completion of the transaction, Scitex will become a major shareholder in Creo, with about 27 percent of the shares. The new graphic arts group—tentatively named Creo/Scitex—will operate as a division of Creo Products. The new organization will provide both the current Creo and Scitex digital prepress product lines, including computer-to-plate and computer-to-film devices, digital front-end and variable information workflow solutions, ink-jet and digital halftone proofing solutions, professional scanners, digital cameras and imaging heads for digital offset applications.
Creo/Scitex will continue to support all existing products for the foreseeable future, and the Brisque and Prinergy workflow management systems will offer open connectivity to the output devices of both parties.
The global operations of Creo/Scitex will be managed from Vancouver and Herzlia. Distribution and support centers will be located in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Hong Kong. Three R&D and manufacturing sites will operate in Vancouver, Herzlia and Bedford, MA, in addition to the manufacturing and R&D facilities of Creo's joint-venture partner Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG in Kiel, Germany.
Management of the new Creo/Scitex will include representation from both companies. Raffi Amit, chair of the Creo board, and Yoav Z. Chelouche, currently president and CEO of Scitex, are to be co-chairs of the board. Amos Michelson, CEO of Creo Products, and Dan Gelbart, corporate president of Creo Products, will continue in their roles. Rimon Ben-Shaoul, chairman of the board of Scitex Corp. and Chelouche will join seven Creo directors on the board.
