Claiming its first major investment in France since 1913, Monotype Corporation Plc last week announced the acquisition of Graphic Systems Equipement SA for an initial consideration of around UKP1.8m. A further UKP300,000 will be paid subject to future forecasts being met. Graphic Systems Equipement, based in Fontenay sous Bois just north of Paris, manufactures and supplies IBM Personal Computer-based photo-composition and trade typesetting systems. It does around UKP5m a year and was originally the distributor for Graphic Systems Inc of Lowell, Massachusetts before a management buy-out in 1982. The parent company was bought out by Wang when it folded in the late 1970s. Net assets for Graphic Systems Equipement stood at UKP1.0m in December 31 1986 and pre-tax profits for the year amounted to UKP0.23m. The structure of the company will not change and expansion will be through existing Monotype subsidiaries. Monotype believes the acquisition will consolidate its position in France where it established the SA Monotype subsidiary in 1913. Monotype sold new technology based on its Lasercomp imagesetter to Le Figaro, France Soir, the Daily Telegraph and the now defunct London Daily News.
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