Anoto Drives Toward Its Vision of Precision Multi-surface Digital Writing and Drawing with the Acquisition of Leading Smartpen Maker
LUND, Sweden & OAKLAND, Calif. — December 7, 2015 — Anoto Group AB today confirmed that it has successfully completed the acquisition of leading smartpen maker Livescribe, Inc. Livescribe is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anoto and will continue to operate as the company’s consumer-facing brand.
“The combination of Anoto and Livescribe closes the gap between consumer and enterprise in many complementary ways,” said Stein Revelsby, CEO of Anoto. “People should be able to use digital pens for multiple applications – taking notes, capturing document data and signatures, and creative design work, in the same way that people have used traditional pen and paper for centuries. Our ambition is to advance this vision further with innovative combinations of paper and digital screens, single pen input or multiple pen collaboration on multiple surfaces, and more, from the smallest sticky notes to 24-foot walls.”
Anoto is a global leader in digital writing and drawing solutions. With the acquisition of Livescribe, Anoto is well positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities in the consumer, creative, and enterprise markets. As the market for digital writing and drawing continues to grow, the new joint entity is well-equipped to succeed.
Anoto has acquired Livescribe’s entire business operations, technology, and intellectual property. Livescribe CEO Gilles Bouchard, who has led the company since 2011, will begin transitioning out of the company in January 2016.
“Gilles was instrumental to Livescribe’s market leadership, advancements in the smartpen’s design, and alignment with Anoto in developing the strong relationship that led to this deal,” Revelsby said. “We appreciate his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
For more information, please visit www.anoto.com and www.livescribe.com.
About Anoto Group
Anoto is a global leader in digital writing and drawing solutions. Its technology platform and branded products enable high-precision pen or stylus input on nearly any surface — from capturing and digitizing handwritten notes and business forms on paper to designing, creating and collaborating directly on large interactive displays, whiteboards, and walls up to 24 feet. Anoto, it’s strategic licensing partners, and developer community offer a broad portfolio of products, applications and services to business, consumer and education markets, including best-in-class digital note-taking, creative solutions, collaborative solutions, classroom learning solutions, and document processing & management. The Anoto Group has over 100 employees and is headquartered in Lund (Sweden), with offices in Basingstoke, Guildford and Wetherby (UK), Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston (US) and Tokyo (Japan). Anoto’s Livescribe brand is the leading maker of smartpens, which bring notes, words, & ideas to life by connecting pen & paper to the digital world. Anoto is traded on the Small Cap list of NASDAQ OMX Stockholm under ANOT.
About Livescribe
Livescribe brings notes, words and ideas to life. Livescribe smartpens make it easy to connect paper and pen to the digital world and fundamentally change the way people capture, access and share what they write, draw and hear. Livescribe’s family of smartpens includes the Echo smartpen and the Livescribe 3 smartpen.
