AgfaPhoto GmbH is a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an photographic company, formed in 2004, when Agfa-Gevaert sold their Consumer Imaging division. Agfa (the former parent company, which merged with film manufacturer Gevaert in 1964) had for many years been well known as a producer of consumer-oriented photographic products including

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

photographic paper Photographic paper is a coated paper, paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical, used for making photographic prints. When photographic paper is exposed to light, it captures a latent image that is then Photographic developer, developed to form ...

s and

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

s. However, within a year of the sell-off, AgfaPhoto had filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

.AgfaPhoto files for insolvency
dpreview.com. Article dated 2005-05-27, retrieved 2007-03-04. The various product brands are now being licensed to various companies by the holding firm AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH. Minilab service and chemicals are e.g. now sold by A&O Imaging Solutions, and AgfaPhoto Vista Brand Film is sold by Lupus Imaging & Media.

Management buyout

In 2004, Agfa-Gevaert announced that it had reached a definitive agreement to

divest In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...

the whole of its Consumer Imaging business in a management

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity, or a controlling interest of a company, or a majority share of the capital stock of the company is acquired. The acquirer thereby "buys out" the present equity holde ...

for a purchase price of €175.5 million. The divestment covered the whole of its Consumer Imaging business, including film, finishing products, and lab equipment, grouped in a new company – AgfaPhoto GmbH, as well as the related lease portfolio, in a management buyout. The targeted closing date of the transaction was November 1, 2004. The transaction resulted in a non-cash book loss to Agfa-Gevaert of €430 million, but was cash positive to the extent of €260 million. While the trading environment for both HealthCare and Graphic System divisions improved considerably, the group's half year results were heavily affected by the expected book loss on the divestiture of Consumer Imaging.

AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH

The AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH, headquartered in

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, is dealing internationally in the consumer imaging sector. Based on a long-term trademark agreement with Agfa-Gevaert NV & Co. KG and Agfa-Gevaert NV, the company is granting sublicenses for the AgfaPhoto-trademark and the Red-Dot-Logo. The following consumer imaging products are offered with the AgfaPhoto trademark: Digital Cameras and Camcorders, 35mm Analog Film, Disposable Film Cameras, Low-cost Film Cameras, Flash Memory Cards & USB Drives, Batteries, Digital Photo Frames, Minilabs (including Service and spare Parts), Optical and Magnetic Storage Media, LCD TVs, DVD Players, Pocket Projectors, Binoculars, Cleaning Products, Ink Cartridges, Photo Paper. The official claim of the brand: "AgfaPhoto is the personal companion that lets consumers experience the world of images in all its exciting facets and turns the special moments in life into lasting and shareable memories."

References

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External links

Official site

AgfaPhoto Batteries
Chemical companies of Germany Defunct photography companies of Germany Agfa

Management buyout

AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH

See also

References

External links