March 05--Lexington-based Lexmark International announced Tuesday it has acquired two more software companies.
It's the seventh and eighth technology acquisitions since mid-2010 for the printer company which has expanded into more computer software and services. Lexmark paid $31.5 million for both San Francisco-based Twistage and Seattle-based AccessVia.
Twistage, which has 12 employees, helps companies manage video, audio, images and other similar types of media. For example, business media outlet Fast Company uses an online video platform developed by Twistage.
Twistage founder and CEO David Wadler said that while the process of preparing video for online viewing can be "very technically complex," the company has "reduced that to what's essentially a point-and-click process."
AccessVia's software focuses on preparing print or electronic signs at retail stores, such as the tags on shelves in front of products. The 35-employee company has long been a partner of Lexmark, which has a strong presence with retailers and serves 90 percent of the top 500 retailers globally.
"We both saw how we were always in the same places serving the same customers, and we devoted a lot of time to do the deep dark engineering work to make both of our offerings work well together," AccessVia CEO Dean A. Sleeper said of the company's past relationship with Lexmark.
AccessVia's software is used for print or electronic signage at more than 75 retailers that have more than 60,000 stores, according to a statement. Among the retail customers are Best Buy, Office Depot and Family Dollar.
Both companies will be folded into Lexmark's Perceptive Software division.
Kansas-based Perceptive Software started the company's recent series of software acquisitions when it was purchased in mid-2010. Perceptive's technology takes information in a variety of ways -- a scanned document, perhaps, or a typed-in form -- and makes it accessible in a company's work flow.
Since 2010, Lexmark has acquired other firms and folded their offerings into the software division. Among them was software that automates the process of collecting data from invoices.
Scott Sloan: (859) 231-1447. Twitter: @HeraldLeaderBiz
