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Ratos strengthens Contex Holdings with $18m equity issue

Ratos, a Swedish private equity company, has produced financial data for their first year in control of Contex Holdings.

Ratos has a 98% stake in Contex Holdings, a leading Danish developer and manufacturer of innovative 2D and 3D digital imaging solutions.

Contex Holdings has three operating areas: Contex A/S, the world’s largest manufacturer of wide-format scanners; Z Corporation, a leading US manufacturer in the new 3D printer and scanner market; and VIDAR Systems Corporation, a long-established manufacturer of products for medical imaging.

Contex Holdings

The new Contex SD Series wide format scanner


Contex A/S
- Alleroed, Denmark -
The new Contex SD Series
wide format color scanner.

VIDAR's DiagnosticPRO® Advantage film digitizer


VIDAR Systems Corp
- Herndon, VA, USA -
The DiagnosticPRO Advantage
the leading medical film digitizer.

The Z Corp 3d Printer


Z Corporation
- Burlington, MA, USA -
ZPrinter 450 3D Printer,
the first with affordable colour.

Ratos presented its Year-End Report 2008 in Stockholm in mid-February 2009. Figures quoted below are for the Contex Holdings group rather than any one of the three individual companies within it.

Contex Holdings group sales for 2008 were SEK (Swedish Kroner) 818m, (just short of $100m, £70m or EUR75m), compared to 2007's group sales of SEK 831.

EBITA (earnings before the deduction of interest, tax and amortisation expenses) for 2008 were SEK 92m compared to SEK 106 in 2007. The economic downturn had a negative impact on sales for all operating areas, particularly in the fourth quarter. Despite the small fall in income, Ratos report that sales for the full year rose by 1% in local currency, presumably SEK.

Ratos strengthens Contex Holdings

Ratos reports that it has decided to provide equity in order to financially strengthen Contex Holdings. Equity will be provided in conjunction with new issues in Contex Holdings worth approximately SEK 150m (approximately $18m, £13, EUR13.7m).

Ratos believes that Contex Holdings has consolidated its market position through new product launches, like the new Contex SD Series, their first CIS-based scanner, and strengthened distribution through the purchase of US distributor IDEAL Systems.

The consolidated book value of Contex Holdings was SEK 779m at 31 December 2008. Ratos' business concept is to increase value over time resulting in the highest possible return through the professional, active and responsible exercise of its ownership role in a number of selected companies and investment situations.

Scanners4CAD enquired about Ratos' new issue of $18m for Contex Holdings.

A Contex distributor stated that "the Ratos cash covers a lot of products, not only scanners but 3D printers, medical imaging and others within the Contex portfolio. Contex are still in good shape all over the world."

A spokesman at Contex, the scanner manufacturer, said no formal comment can be made on the $18M in equity yet. Contex insists that this has nothing to do with weakness nor with a lack of cash.

Niels Appel, Contex A/S Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing, said "During the the first three quarters of 2008, Contex A/S experienced a strong growth in revenue and a growing demand for scanners due to the highly successful launch of the SD Series of CIS-based large format scanners.

"However, the 4th Quarter was generally much more difficult. We saw both a lower demand from our customers while at the same time our distributors lowered their level of inventory. Right now, I don’t think anyone in our industry can say they are not affected by the changed economic climate – especially in the US. Despite this, Contex A/S remains confident that it has the best combination of innovation and investment, people and products to succeed in every situation and against every challenge which this new global economy presents".

To visit Contex's web site, go to: www.contex.com

To visit Vidar's web site, go to: www.vidar.com

To visit Z Corp's web site, go to: www.zcorp.com

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