Ricoh to acquire ColorGATE in move to strengthen industrial printing business

ColorGATE is a software provider to the printing industry with a specific competence in color management. Founded in 1997, Germany-based ColorGATE has 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. ColorGATE is renowned as a provider of performance-optimized color management and workflow software to standardize and automate growing digital print markets including decor and textiles.

The transfer of shares is scheduled to complete on November 30, 2018. In February this year, Ricoh announced its growth strategy plan, Ricoh Ignite, which sets out its intention to reinforce its value offering 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. Both are located in Europe, which is identified as the center of incubation for industrial printing markets. 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 the commercial and industrial printing business group at Ricoh, said: ‘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.’

Thomas Kirschner, co-founder of ColorGATE, will continue to serve as CEO. He said: ‘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.’

Williams concluded: ‘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.’