“A Great Marriage”: Canon and Milestone Tie the Knot at IFSEC

“If you combine the strength of Milestone with the technology of Canon, our global footprint and resources, I think everyone can understand that this a great marriage.”

This is what Rokus van Iperen, CEO of Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa said before formally announcing Canon’s acquisition of video software provider Milestone Systems at IFSEC International on Tuesday.

Van Iperen signed an agreement to acquire the Danish company Milestones with their CEO Lars Thinggard, before posing for quick selfie to make sure everything was official.

The joining of forces will combine Canon’s flair for video innovation and Milestone’s expertise in video processing applications. The acquisition will not affect Milestone’s management, which will remain in place. The price of the acquisition has not yet been disclosed, but is rumoured to be over €150m.

Iperen said that it became clear that the partnership was not just “a strategic fit”, but also “a cultural fit”. The partnership is expected to be “very beneficial” for stakeholders in both companies.

The move is expected to drive future growth through diversification and monitoring via network video has been identified as strategic and new business.

According to Julian Rutland, Visual Communication Products and Solutions Director at Canon, the companies will still remain largely independent. “There’s no plan to integrate the companies together, just to work as an open partnership model. We’ll continue to work with our other partners and that’s critical for what we are doing here.”

“One of the key things we are seeing from this partnership is the change in perception of Canon in this industry. We’ve been saying for many years that we are absolutely committed to the surveillance industry, but still people sometimes ask whether Canon is really serious. Well, from today, they will think that Canon are really serious.”

“I think this will be an important step forward for our development across Europe. We can give end users really benefits in terms of a combined solution,” he added.

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