Nuance discusses Equitrac acquisition
Yesterday, Nuance announced a $157 million deal to acquire Equitrac Corporation, a leading provider of intelligent print management and cost recovery software. Nuance expects the acquisition in fiscal 2012 to add between $58 million and $60 million in non-GAAP revenue.
Chris Strammiello, Vice President, Marketing & Product Strategy for Nuance shares insight into what this acquisition means for Nuance. ”Not only does this acquisition create energy and opportunity right away, but it lays down a pathway for innovation that is going to continue to drive excitement.”
As stated in the press release, the combination of the two companies will result in:
- Products that increase cost savings and office productivity
- Strengthening of global OEM partnerships
- Unmatched application connectivity
- Expanded solutions for key verticals
- Innovation in managed print services
The two companies will continue to operate as separate entities for the next 60-90 days, until the acquisition closes. Equitrac will be folded into Nuance’s Document Imaging Division under the direction of Robert Weideman, General Manager & Sr. VP at Nuance. “Senior management such as Mike Rich [CEO of Equitrac] will be an important part of this larger and stronger division. We have a lot of respect for the Equitrac employees and that’s one of the exciting parts of this acquisition, becoming not only stronger strategically but stronger as a workforce,” Strammiello said.
“Scale is an important part of being able to be successful. We are really dedicated to our partners and going to market through our partners. The moves we make, whether it is our eCopy acquisition a little over a year ago or the Equitrac acquisition today, are done very much with the thought of strengthening our partnerships.”
Nuance has called together quite a stable of different offerings over the past few years, Strammiello has overseen about 50 acquisitions since he joined Nuance in 2000. As for the technology roadmap of how all these acquisitions will play together, Strammiello says he doesn’t think that is fully sorted yet. In the future, he believes there will be folks who are only interested in print management and in capture, but there is a lot of excitement at Nuance and with partners that they will be able to bring innovative and streamlined offerings. “Whether that is streamlining hardware or creating more exciting workflow, I think that is all very much part of the future roadmap. Innovation is what has driven Nuance to so much success.” Similar to the path taken with eCopy, Strammiello expects the same interesting and innovative approach to be taken with the Equitrac suite of products with their connectors, extenders, document processing and the cross platforms Nuance has brought to bear. And while Strammiello couldn’t comment on future acquisitions, stating all their focus would be on Equitrac right now, it seems like the piece to the puzzle that’s still missing is a device management company.
“All of our focus is going to be on 1) that we preserve the Equitrac business and 2) that we put ourselves in the best position for technology innovation and growth.”
Chris Strammiello leads the company’s worldwide Marketing and Product organizations for the Imaging Solutions Business Unit. His proven leadership and strategic expertise are tremendous assets for Nuance as it executes ambitious growth plans.
Previously, Chris was Director of Product Management for the company’s Productivity Division where he successfully drove growth and expansion of speech and imaging technologies.
He came to Nuance in 2000 from Xerox Corporation where he held a variety marketing and strategy positions. Mr. Strammiello holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Connecticut.
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