ESKO has announced the planned sale of its Kongsberg digital finishing business to OpenGate Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in Los Angeles with a European office in Paris and investments on five continents. The planned sale includes the original research and development facility in Kongsberg, Norway and the production facility in Brno, Czech Republic. Mattias Byström, President of Packaging and Color Management Companies Pantone, Esko, X-Rite and AVT, said that ESKO is concentrating on the efforts on delivering end-to-end workflow solutions. “With a sharpened focus, we can accelerate our delivery of integrated software and hardware technologies to help our customers digitise, automate, and connect their operations so they can realize the growth and efficiency that digital transformation offers. I am confident that OpenGate will be a strong, strategic home for Kongsberg,” he added.

Kongsberg was founded in Norway in 1965, and ESKO (then Barco) purchased Kongsberg in 1998. Customers with Kongsberg systems can expect business as usual, since most of the employees who currently serve them would continue to do so as part of the new stand-alone business. Reseller relationships would also be transferred to Kongsberg PCS, meaning customers who purchased Kongsberg tables through resellers would also benefit from uninterrupted relationships. The new Kongsberg PCS company would be led by Stuart Fox, future President of Kongsberg PCS, who is one of many seasoned digital finishing experts moving from Esko to outfit the Kongsberg PCS leadership team.