ImageX buys Creativepro
Portland-based Creativepro.com becomes a subsidiary of the Bellevue, Wash., company for $87 million in cash and stock
Tuesday, March 21, 2000
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By Elisa Williams of The Oregonian staff
ImageX.com of Bellevue, Wash., agreed to buy Portland's Creativepro.com in a stock and cash deal valued at about $87 million to expand the graphic-design portion of its online commercial printing business.
The deal, announced early Monday morning, came about as privately held Creativepro.com sought $10 million in financing to continue building its business. During that search, Creativepro.com -- which is one of Oregon's most prominent dot-com companies -- was introduced to ImageX.com.
"We talked to ImageX in the 11th hour," said Craig Barnes, Creativepro.com president and chief executive officer. "Looking out for all of our shareholders, not only was this the most attractive offer but it had the most upside."
ImageX.com will pay about $9.9 million in cash and 4.3 million shares. But ImageX.com's shares have been declining in value this year -- and surrendered about 11 percent of their value on Monday after the deal was announced.
Once the deal closes, Creativepro.com will operate as subsidiary. Barnes will remain as president, and no job cuts are expected.
Creativepro.com provides online information, products and services for graphic designers and people in the printing and publishing industries. ImageX.com does much the same, but offers printing supplies and services.
By teaming up, the two companies will offer customers a single source for all of the products and services they need to design and complete a printing project.
"We see this as such a natural fit because it really creates the fluidity from the graphic designer desktop right into the production and preproduction side of things. We look at this as a soup to nuts, end-to-end solution for customers," said Rich Begert, president and chief executive officer of ImageX.com.
Begert joined Barnes on Monday at Creativepro.com's Portland offices off Southwest First Avenue to meet with employees and field questions from customers and financial analysts.
Creativepro.com employs 120, including 43 developers and 35 marketing and sales people.
Two-thirds of the privately owned company is held by employees. Investors, including Adobe Ventures, the investment arm of Adobe Systems, own the other third.
The company has about 1 million customers and generated $21 million in sales last year.
ImageX.com employs 363. This is ImageX.com's fourth acquisition in 11 months. Last year it lost $20.83 million on $11.5 million in sales.
Creativepro.com, formerly Extensis, was one of 16 Oregon companies that ranked in the Technology Fast 500 list compiled last year by the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. The list ranks technology companies based on their five-year revenue growth. Creativepro.com ranked 53rd.
The company remade itself as a dot-com company last fall, converting from a supplier of graphics design software to a Web-based portal for design professionals.
Among Creativepro.com's customers are Seattle-based aircraft-maker Boeing and Exxon.
ImageX.com shares fell $2.3125, or 11 percent, to $17.9375 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The company's shares have lost more than half of their value this year after hitting a high of $41.875 on Dec. 31.
ImageX.com plans to complete the purchase by early summer
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