The company, which found itself mired in $US399m of debt following its acquisition of rival colour-matching specialists Amazys and Pantone, is still trying to get back on track after defaulting on loan repayments earlier this year.

Interim chief financial officer David Rawden said: “While the company remains in default with its loan covenants, we are actively working with our lenders to reach an amendment to our lending agreements.

“We are in the process of raising additional capital to de-leverage our balance sheet. While the negotiations are taking longer than expected given the complexity of our current credit agreements, we are confident we will reach a positive outcome.”

Despite its third consecutive heavy loss, X-Rite’s balance sheet did show signs of improvement, including a 31 per cent rise in EBITDA, to $US17.2m compared to the previous quarter.

X-Rite chief executive Thomas Vacchiano Jr. denied the company was paying the price for its aggressive acquisition programme.

He said: “X-Rite believes that there is a fundamental and significant shift in the market opportunity for colour.

“The combination of X-Rite, Amazys and Pantone uniquely positions the new X-Rite to take advantage of this market shift moving colour technology and solutions beyond traditional mission-critical applications to anywhere colour is important. We believe that as we succeed in leading this transformation, all X-Rite shareholders will win.”

Read the original article at www.printweek.com.

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