Press release: i2S to acquire a majority interest in Kirtas Technologies

I've been waiting Kirtas for a number of years and have interacted with some of its employees, so this announcement is of personal interest to me.  There is also a newspaper story about the deal from the Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle, which offers some additional details. 

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Paris, 3 March 2011


i2S to acquire a majority interest in KIRTAS TECHNOLOGIES

i2S to take a position in the United States, consolidating its leadership in the document scanning market.

i2S announces that it has entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire a majority interest in Kirtas Technologies Inc, based in Rochester, New York, USA. The world leader in robotic bound-document digitization systems, Kirtas will complement the i2s Scanning unit’s product line, its distribution network, its customer profile and its strong presence in the US market.

The alignment with Kirtas reinforces the i2S Scanning unit
By aligning products and services with Kirtas, both companies will benefit from immediate synergies:

• The combined resources of the two companies makes them a leading player in the worldwide scanning market.
• Increased market coverage through the combined distribution networks, geographical zones, market knowledge and customer profiles.
• Increased depth and breadth of current and future scanning systems and software.

Future synergies in the high-potential market for content digitization

• With this strategic investment in Kirtas, i2S acquires a position in the U.S. which will enable it to reinforce its approach to American libraries and forge new partnerships with digital content and Internet players.
• The United States was the source of the major paradigm shifts in digital and Internet history and i2S will take advantage of advances by Kirtas and POLINUM, such as KirtasBooks.com, as part of its strategy to become a key player in the emerging market of digital asset development. i2S’ third-generation digital library Divvalib, launched in October 2010 by Amanager, could be integrated into KirtasBooks.com, the site created in 2009 to scan and circulate books in e-Pub format and provide on-demand printing. KirtasBooks.com has distribution agreements with a number of university libraries, making more than one million titles available via their Digitize-on-Demand model.
• Republishing relationships with institutions such as Boston Public Library and with Barnes & Noble.

Kirtas: the world leader in robotic bound-document scanning systems

With an installed base of over 200 units in 35 countries, Kirtas represents nearly 70% of the world market for robotic scanners. In 2010, Kirtas sold over 40 units of its robotic digitization systems.

Kirtas has been at the forefront of the digital revolution and has gained experience managing several major scanning projects: beginning in 2006 the company was selected by Microsoft for the "Live Book Search" project, whose goal is to scan works from U.S. public and university libraries, including Yale and Cornell Universities, in strict compliance with copyright laws. Kirtas carried out the digitization of 150,000 books between 2006 and 2008.

i2S: world leader in scanners for bound documents
i2S is the world's leading producer of scanners for bound documents and large formats. The group relies on an indirect network of 40 distributors throughout the world, with 1,600 scanners installed in 80 countries. The Group addresses three market segments: Cultural Heritage, Self Service and international service provision (Global Services).
Cultural Heritage covers cultural and administrative assets and heritage collections (libraries, archives, museums, foundations, publishers).


Self Service corresponds to work environments, library reading rooms, school and university documentation centers, print centers, government and business.


Global Services - international players who project-manage large-scale scanning programs related to their original business, including large equipment manufacturers, IT service providers and telecom operators.


With the establishment in late 2009 of the public-private R&D consortium POLINUM* (*Operational Platform for Digital Books) dedicated to the promotion and interoperability of digital content, i2S, as the project coordinator, positioned itself as a leader in accessing information in the growing digital-knowledge economy. 

The group's parallel strategy is to acquire the technological building blocks that will complete its range of scanners and image processing software. This was the goal of the 2009 acquisition of the Amanager company, which specializes in online multimedia content production applications.


Contacts
Kirtas Technologies, Inc : Roger O’Brien, CEO roger@kirtas.com; Mike Maxwell mmaxwell@kirtas.com
i2S Group: Jean-Pierre GERAULT – Chairman of the Board : jp.gerault@i2s.fr
Agnès B. MAULEON – Marketing & Communications Manager: a.mauleon@i2s.fr

i2S Inc: Etienne LAMAIRESSE – CEO: e.lamairesse@i2s.fr