Fredrikstad, Norway – Belgian video display manufacturer Barco said Wednesday it has acquired a 61 percent stake in projectiondesign, based here, to take a greater position in the mid-sized projection market.
Barco, which has been largely focused on the digital cinema business, bought is stake in the company from private equity firm Herkules Capital.
Barco said the combination creates market leading positions in both large- and mid-sized video professional projectors while strengthening its leadership in high-performance projection technology.
Projectiondesign manufactures projectors primarily for professional markets, but has marketed lines of high performance home theater projectors in the past.
Projectiondesign employs about 200 people and had 2011 sales of $75.3 million.
“Barco, being a European-based world leader in large venue projection, is the perfect match for projectiondesign. Barco represents world class competencies in 3-chip DLP while projectiondesign is well renowned for its innovative 1-chip DLP projectors,” stated Jorn Eriksen, president of projectiondesign. “Together we combine an unsurpassed line-up of highly competitive premium projectors for mid- and large venues, with the broadest distribution across both specialty and corporate AV markets.
“This was an unusual opportunity to join forces with one of the strongest players in the projection industry, which we simply could not ignore.”
Globally, projectiondesign is firmly positioned in the Northern European market while Barco has sales coverage in Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Barco also said the deal will help it grow its businesses in North America.
