Wide format printers maker NUR Macroprinters Ltd. (Pink Sheets:NURMF) has been acquired by Hewlett Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) for $117.5 million.
Fortissimo Capital acquired 55% of NUR Macroprinters for $12 million in December 2005, when the company fell into financial difficulties and could not meet its liabilities to the banks. Fortissimo Capital managing partner Yuval Cohen was appointed chairman of NUR. He said, "Two years ago, when Fortissimo Capital acquired control of NUR, the company was losing money and was in a precarious position. However, Fortissimo Capital recognized that Nur had the potential to build on its strong market presence, installed base and technology leadership, and infused the requisite capital to fund its growth. Together with the banks, we restructured the debt, recruited stellar management, and implemented a new strategy that resulted in an impressive improvement and growth. We believe that NUR is at a point where it requires the HP resources in order to bring its line of business to a new level."
In October, NUR signed a contract with PT Samafitro, a distributor of desktop multifunction peripherals, high-end digital color presses and wide-format production printers in Indonesia.
NUR is HP's third important acquisition in the Israeli printing technology sector. In 2001 it bought Indigo for $629 million, and in 2005, it bought Scitex Vision for $230 million. HP's largest acquisition in this country was that of systems optimization software company Mercury Interactive, which it bought in July 2006 for $4.5 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 10, 2007
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