EFI has announced a realignment of the company following the completion of sale of its eProductivity Software (EPS) packaging and print productivity software business to an affiliate of Symphony Technology Group (STG).

EPS has become an independent global software company following the acquisition and with STG’s backing will accelerate its growth as a standalone company through organic and inorganic initiatives to deepen and broaden the company’s capabilities.

EPS has more than 4,000 mid-market and enterprise customers globally, across all key verticals within packaging and print, including folding carton, corrugated packaging, tag & label, flexible packaging, commercial print, publication, mailing, and display graphics, among others.

EFI and EPS will continue to collaborate with their joint customers and partners.

EFI said the move now enables it to accelerate investment into its inkjet and Fiery business units and capitalise on growth opportunities available in existing segments the company serves, as well as drive expansion into markets that are beginning the transformation toward digital.

The company said the move will also enable it to continue to lead the industry in the analog-to-digital transition.

“We have never been more excited about the opportunity in the industrial inkjet markets and our ability to leverage Fiery, the leading Digital Front End (DFE) technology for digital colour printing, to continue to drive the analog-to-digital transformation in all high-value segments of imaging – while increasingly serving new adjacencies including e-commerce, direct-to-garment, and other rapidly growing segments,” EFI CEO and executive chairman Jeff Jacobson said.

“We are making significant investments to continue to be the clear leader in the packaging and corrugated, display graphics, textile, and building materials/decor markets.

“The potential of the high-growth industrial inkjet markets is the impetus for us to accelerate our investments in market-leading products and services that drive the analog-to-digital transformation. Industrial inkjet imaging is one of the greatest opportunities I have seen in my 35 years in this industry.

“The sale of the software business provides our industrial inkjet and Fiery teams the focus that will best position them for success.”

EPS CEO Gabriel (Gaby) Matsliach said the strategic step in becoming an independent company enables the business to bring greater value to its customers, as well as the packaging and print industries overall, by extending our collaboration with key industry technology players.

“We will continue to collaborate closely with our friends at EFI. In addition, we will accelerate investments in our technology advancements and modernisation, in our level of partnership with customers, and in driving global organic and inorganic growth,” Matsliach said.

“Through this process, STG took the time to deeply understand the industries we serve and got excited about our space, customers, and market position. We were impressed by their strong emphasis on growth through innovation and a highly customer centric approach and are looking forward to implementing together that future vision.”

STG managing partner William Chisholm said EPS’ portfolio of mission critical products catering specifically to the needs of customers in the packaging and printing industries appealed to STG.

“We are excited to partner with Gaby and his team, leverage our experience as investors in enterprise software and our historical success in executing carve out transactions, in order to further expand the EPS value proposition to its customers and further accelerate its growth trajectory through technological innovation and a customer centric mindset as a standalone company,” he said.

EFI’s upcoming Connect users conference will be a joint event for EFI and EPS customers. Leaders from both companies will highlight their technology enhancements and product roadmap strategies during the January 17-21 Las Vegas gathering.

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