Clarity Visual Systems Broadens International Expansion with Synelec Acquisition
May 3, 2005 11:10 AM
Clarity Visual Systems has acquired the international assets of Synelec Telecom Multimedia S.A., a digital display company based in France. The Synelec purchase adds depth to Clarity’s digital imaging product line and expands its engineering, sales, and distribution resources. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Clarity’s purchase of Synelec assets, a business with $30 million in reported revenue in 2004, includes its headquarters in southwestern France and approximately 70 employees, pushing Clarity’s total employee count to 185 worldwide. The purchase adds more than 1,200 display system installation sites around the globe to Clarity’s installed customer base, including such high-profile installations as the NASDAQ in New York, Madrid Metro in Spain, SNCF Railway in France, and NTT DoCoMo in Japan. It also further strengthens Clarity’s worldwide presence in command and control environments, those where businesses, organizations, and government entities rely on large displays to manage their networks and operations.
“This acquisition expands our market share globally and allows us to aggressively penetrate high-end control room markets where Synelec has been so successful–in transportation, telecommunications, and utilities,” said Paul Gulick, chief executive officer of Clarity. “As we integrate the strengths of a well-known, European-based company, we will be better equipped to deliver complete solutions to our digital visual messaging customers worldwide.”
Gulick said initially both companies will continue to market their respective product lines through established channels. Over time, Clarity will look for opportunities to integrate the brands and product lines to take advantage of synergies as they emerge.
“‘There is a natural synergy between our two companies because of our shared history of innovation,” said Gil Souviron, former chief executive officer of Synelec. “This acquisition should assure our customers we will expand our offerings, continue to provide and support high-quality products, and will make certain that our business partners have our complete and even better worldwide support for their efforts to sell our products in a global marketplace.”
Clarity plans to maintain Synelec technical and sales offices and intends to retain a majority of the Synelec team, including Souviron. With the acquisition, Clarity will add international sales offices in France, Italy, and China to its offices in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It will maintain Clarity company headquarters near Portland, Ore.
For more information, visit www.clarityvisual.com.
