Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Xerox to Acquire XMPie
The rumor I covered back in July is true. Xerox is buying XMPie:
STAMFORD, Conn., Oct. 03, 2006 -- Building on the growth of personalized printing and multimedia direct marketing, Xerox Corporation has agreed to acquire XMPie for $54 million. A privately held company, XMPie is a leading provider of variable information software, which enables cross-media, personalized marketing programs.
As I stated back in July, this is a great move by Xerox as it strengthens the integration of Xerox's and XMPie's products.
Xerox plans on operating XMPie as its own business unit:
XMPie will maintain its brand name and function as a standalone software unit, continuing to serve the entire graphic arts market and supporting current customers and business partners as well as Xerox. Jacob Aizikowitz will head up the unit, reporting directly to Burns. Aizikowitz is a founder of XMPie and has served as its chairman and chief technology officer since April 2005.
This is a strategically wise move. XMPie still has start-up motivation and innovation. Xerox is innovative, but they also have layers of bureaucracy that can stifle creativity. Assimilating XMPie into the Xerox borg would be disastrous.
While XMPie plans on continuing to serve the entire graphic arts market and supporting current customers and business partners, I wonder how Kodak and HP will react to acquisition.
I have a feeling the Kodak NexPress marketing folks are now getting a taste of what Xerox went through when Creo was gobbled up by Kodak last year. A beloved star in the VDP area is now owned by a competitor.
And just when I thought Graph Expo was going to be boring, Xerox steps in and announces something that is sure to create some buzz in Chicago.
Posted in: Digital Printing | Workflow
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