Ricoh to Acquire Industrial-Printing Software Provider ColorGATE

Ricoh Company today announced that it’s reached an agreement to buy ColorGATE Digital Output Solutions GmbH, a  software provider in the printing industry with a focus on color management, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is designed to strengthen Ricoh’s growing industrial-printing business, and the transfer of shares is scheduled to be completed on November 30, 2018.

ColorGATE was established in 1997, is headquartered in Hanover, Germany, has 35 employees, and develops and sells commercial-printing software for color management, RIP, workflow, and more.

ColorGATE has been providing software for the wide-format and industrial-printing sectors. With its extensive customer base, ColorGATE is said to be the European leader in industrial printing software. It’s said to market unique color-management technology to support printing and decorating a wide variety of materials used for packaging, floor and wall coverings as well as textiles and signage. It’s also said to be a leading provider of performance-optimized color management and workflow software to standardize and automate growing digital print markets including décor and textiles.

In February of this year, Ricoh notes that it announced its growth strategy plan, “RICOH Ignite,” which is designed to strengthen its growth strategy by expanding its printing-technology portfolio. The investment in ColorGATE is the latest part of this plan.

To enhance its industrial printing business, Ricoh recently established a “Global IP Technology Center” and a “Global IP Marketing Center.” Significantly, both are located in Europe, which is increasingly the center of incubation for industrial printing markets. This allows access to cutting-edge technology and enables increased responsiveness to market needs.-The centers aim to drive marketing, strategic planning and development of business and products with Ricoh’s alliance partners worldwide.

Peter Williams, corporate vice president and general manager of Ricoh’s Commercial and Industrial Printing Business Group, commented: “By combining ColorGATE’s proprietary software technology with our own industrial printers, Ricoh will provide solutions covering the whole printing workflow, from Pre-Press to Post-Press. This acquisition will enable ColorGATE to expand its industrial-printing business and global presence, as together we become better able to support our customers to accelerate their transition from analogue to digital based production.”

Thomas Kirschner, co-founder of ColorGATE, and who will continue to serve as CEO, commented: “We are delighted to have been selected by Ricoh to contribute to this strong future growth strategy whilst we continue to serve our established customer base, OEM partners and reseller channel.”