Global Graphics has completed its acquisition of Hybrid Software from Congra Software.
Hybrid Software becomes the fourth subsidiary company in the Global Graphics group and sits alongside Global Graphics Software, Meteor Inkjet and Xitron.
The acquisition roughly doubles the size of the Global Graphics group of companies in terms of headcount, expanding the global workforce to around 250 people. It also adds several more operating locations to the group through Hybrid Software’s offices in Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France and the USA.
Global Graphics typically invests about one third of its revenues into R&D each financial year. Its software development team now comprises more than 75 engineers with the addition of Hybrid Software.
Guido Van der Schueren, chairman of Global Graphics, said: “This acquisition is a great fit. It’s good news for our customers, our employees and our shareholders. We will continue to grow the value of the company by supporting all our stakeholders and reaffirm our intention to remain a listed company. As the packaging industry continues its migration to digital printing, there are tremendous opportunities for Global Graphics’ hardware and software solutions, so bringing Hybrid Software into the group will help us grow our share in labels and packaging. Exciting times lie ahead as we launch new initiatives in response to customer demands, ranging from innovative new products to subscription-based licensing models.”
Global Graphics’ CEO Mike Rottenborn added: “This acquisition makes Global Graphics stronger than the sum of its parts. Customers are asking for more functionality and we are well placed to offer a broader solution starting with a powerful new digital front end for the labels and packaging segment. Expect to see new product development for the industrial inkjet market too, which, as it evolves and matures, requires a new generation of software and hardware capabilities. We’ll be able to take Hybrid Software’s expertise in file preparation and enterprise production workflow gained in the labels and packaging segments and expand this out across all the industry segments we serve.”
Hybrid Software has been an integrator of Global Graphics’ Harlequin Rip for many years inside its Cloudflow workflow product, and in recent times has been working at a technical level with Global Graphics Software on the Fundamentals digital front end. Michigan-based Xitron, also a long-standing customer for the Harlequin Rip, is active in the commercial printing industry providing pre-press and digital solutions to OEMs. Its Navigator DFE supports drive electronics from sister company Meteor Inkjet, a developer of printhead driver solutions for industrial inkjet systems.
Consideration for the acquisition of Hybrid Software was 80m Euro which was satisfied in full by issuing 21,074,030 Global Graphics shares to Congra. For the year ended 31 December 2020, it is estimated that Hybrid Software’s revenue will be around 17m Euro and EBITDA will be around 5.5m Euro (subject to audit).