(7 October 2015) Bibliotheca’s shareholders, One Equity Partners (OEP), today completed the purchase of 3M Library Systems North American business, and entered into agreements to purchase the assets of 3M’s remaining global Library Systems business. The new Bibliotheca Group will combine the best of both worlds to help libraries captivate their communities, providing innovative library-focused solutions that connect with people at home, at the library, and on the go.
Each business brings unique products and services to the market, which combined will provide libraries with an unparalleled portfolio of solutions to help them serve their community at home, at the library and on the go.
Going forward, Bibliotheca will combine with the former 3M Library Systems business and will transition it to a single Bibliotheca brand. The new Bibliotheca Group is committed to continued investment in products and staff and will continue to expand into new regions with innovation-led products.
The completed sale transfers 3M’s former North America Library business, including the security (EM), productivity (RFID & AMH) and cloud (eBooks) solutions, all of which will be joined with the existing Bibliotheca product set to create the single largest ‘best of breed’ solution set globally.
Dr. Simon Plankenhorn, Managing Director Bibliotheca Group commented: “Ever since the incorporation of the Bibliotheca Group in 2011 we have been focused on assembling the greatest team of people and the most innovative product set within the library industry. The news today brings together two strong businesses in the industry and makes Bibliotheca the most experienced and dedicated library company in the world. We are delighted to have concluded the deal and extremely excited to kick off the North America integration as soon as possible”.
Matt Tempelis, who joins Bibliotheca from 3M and was previously the 3M Library Systems business leader added, “We’re excited for the opportunity to create a company that can continue to deliver innovative, high quality products to libraries across the globe. The combined company has the scale needed to accelerate our product development pipeline. As before, we will continue to listen to the needs of our library customers while delivering the highest possible levels of service and quality that customers have expected.”
Transferring customers will see no change to their existing support and maintenance contracts and will benefit from a combined product range, knowledgeable industry experts, and the confidence that they are an extremely valued customer of the largest global company dedicated exclusively to libraries.
About Bibliotheca
Bibliotheca was formed in the spring of 2011 when the three leading independent companies of Bibliotheca (Switzerland), Intellident (UK) and Integrated Technology Group, ITG (North America) merged to create a single, global entity. In January of 2012, the Group was extended further with the acquisition of Trion AG, one of Europe’s leading AMH suppliers. Bibliotheca is financially backed by One Equity Partners, a division of JP Morgan Chase & Co. The formation of this Group creates the world’s largest company dedicated to the development, deployment and support of RFID-based solutions, with particular focus on public, private and academic library markets. For more information about Bibliotheca, see: www.bibliotheca.com
Read the announcement in full here.
