The US-based firm announced on Monday (14 April) that it had acquired French software developer Group Rhapso, whose two main products are the Graphisoft MIS and the PC-Topp scheduling and production control system for the corrugated industry.

Graphisoft is primarily marketed in French-speaking countries, while PC-Topp is sold worldwide and available in 13 languages. Both products will become part of EFI's Productivity Software family of products, while Graphisoft will also be integrated with EFI Fiery.

Marc Olin, chief operating officer at EFI, said: "Rhapso gives EFI the opportunity to further extend our leading-edge capabilities in the packaging market.

"The acquisition of Rhapso now extends our scope of offering into the corrugated market sector as a new growth opportunity and builds upon our strong existing presence in the MIS and scheduling area."

In addition to Group Rhapso's software products, the acquisition adds more than 500 customers to EFI's existing customer base and "reasserts EFI's commitment to the [European] region and to local markets," said Olin.

He added: "We believe this is a critical and strategic part of our focused growth strategy."

Meanwhile, in its first quarter accounts filing, EFI reported a 10% year-on-year increase in revenue, from $171.4m to $188.7m, together with a more than 60% rise in pre-tax profit, from $6.6m to $10.1m.

Revenue growth was strongest in the Productivity Software operating segment, which grew by more than 14% to $31.7m; Industrial Inkjet grew 9.5% to $87.9m, while Fiery was up 9% year-on-year at $69.1m.

By region, EFI recorded revenue growth in both its home Americas market, from $93.9m to $101m, and Europe, from $50m to $60.5m, although APAC declined marginally, from $27.4m to $27.2m.

EFI chief executive Guy Gecht said that the firm had "upcoming product innovations across [its] portfolio" and that he expected to see "solid demand throughout the year".