Technology firm EFI has acquired Xerox’s Free Flow Print Server (FFPS) digital front-end (DFE) business.
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. EFI will continue with the production and support of FFPS.
The deal will integrate Xerox’s FFPS with EFI’s Fiery front-ends, already used in several Xerox machines, so that all front-ends will be supplied under the Fiery name. EFI now owns the intellectual property for the FFPS business.
The next generation DFE technology being developed by the two companies will be integrated with EFI’s Productivity Suites including management information systems such as PACE, PrintSmith, Vision, Monarch and Radius ERP.
Apart from this, DFE will integrate with Xerox FreeFlow Core and XMPie workflows as well as third-party prepress solutions such as Agfa Apogee, Heidelberg Prinect, and Kodak Prinergy.
The DFE will also be giving out API to help customers easily develop integration into any customised application.
The acquisition only pertains to FFPS and does not impact Xerox’s other workflow solutions that carry the FreeFlow sub-brand name including FreeFlow Core, FreeFlow VI Suite, FreeFlow Makeready and FreeFlow Digital Publisher.
Xerox Graphic Communications Solutions president Andrew Copley said: “Customers will gain a powerful solution with more efficiencies, performance and quality to meet the most demanding production requirements.
“EFI is an industry leader and has a proven track record with performance, ease of use and seamless integration with industry workflow solutions.”
EFI CEO Guy Gecht said: “EFI integration among the DFE, workflow software, and management information systems products deliver the higher levels of automation and productivity that are key to print businesses taking full advantage of the opportunities with digital printing.”