Information-management company ProQuest has acquired Ex Libris, a Jerusalem-based maker of software for libraries. Financial terms of the deal, announced Tuesday, weren’t disclosed. But Israeli newspaper Haaretz is thought that the purchase price is around $500 million.
Ex Libris which was purchased in 2012 by San Francisco private equity firm, Golden Gate Capital, is a global provider of library automation solutions. A joint statement on Tuesday said Ex Libris has over 5, 600 customers in 90 countries. Among them 43 of the top 50 universities worldwide and over 40 national libraries. Its clients include the Library of Congress in the United States as well as Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge universities, the national library of China and the British National Library in the United Kingdom;
Ex Libris has around 500 employees with offices worldwide. The company main research and development center is in Jerusalem.
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The Ann Arbor-based company ProQuest, specializes in electronic and microform information products, said that the acquisition will help the company create products that unify work processes for libraries in acquisitions, cataloging and circulation of library materials, and align print and digital assets. Ex Libris’ products also are intended to help library patrons more easily find the materials they need.
After the deal closes, Ex Libris will operate as a business unit called Ex Libris, a ProQuest Company, and will be led by current CEO Matti Shem-Tov.
According to the Ex Libris website, Shem-Tov has been with the company since 2003. The American Libraries Association website knows that “the arrangement for Shem-Tov to continue with Ex Libris under the ownership of ProQuest is not an interim arrangement, but a long-term commitment.”
The website remarked Shem-Tov and his management team have navigated Ex Libris “through multiple ownership arrangements preserving key products and strategies.”
“It is important to note that at this time the acquisition has not closed and that product, personnel, and business strategies are still under review. More specific product roadmaps will be developed and announced in the coming months once the merger is finalized, ” the website added.
Ex Libris started in the 1980 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to develop a new library management system. In 1988, all of the eight universities in Israel bought the program and linked up in a network.
Walden Israel and Tamar Ventures invested about $4 million in the company to strengthen its global presence. Among its later owners was Francisco Partners, a private equity firm based in San Francisco. “The value of Ex Libris increased substantially through each phase of ownership, ” American Libraries reported. “According to business reports published at the time, Francisco Partners purchased Ex Libris for $62 million in 2006.”
