Harlequin has bought the digital publishing division of 5D, which developed the Jaws RIP and PDF Creator.


PDF Creator (formerly Nik Nak) is the only application apart from Adobes Acrobat that can create PDF files.


The 5D developments in the PDF arena are very exciting, said Harlequin president and chief executive Jim Freidah. These applications and technologies meet the growing demand for PDF software, and will serve as the basis of a new and expanded product range.


The acquisition, which is part of a plan to extend its business into lower-cost, higher-volume products, gives the firm a range of RIPs and embedded controllers to complement its ScriptWorks high-end RIP. The business will be carried out through a new subsidiary of Harlequin called Jaws Systems.


Freidah said: The Jaws RIP business has made major inroads into the middle market segment, including use within the wide-format ink-jet, colour copier, embedded software and PDF document creation arenas. Harlequin is the major supplier to the high end, including digital presses, CTP, imagesetters and proofing. Both serve mutually exclusive OEM customer bases.


It bought the division for 15m (e25m), paying 1.8m in cash and the balance by issuing 590,000 shares in Harlequins parent Global Graphics, (although this is subject to shareholder approval at an EGM to be held in October).


The Visual Effects division of 5D, which develops software for film and video production, remains as part of 5D.
Sales at the publishing division were 2.4m to the year ending 31 July, and are projected to rise by at least 30% over the next year.


Story by Barney Cox