Marlborough publishing software and mobile technology maker Bitstream Inc. announced it will sell its legacy font business to Woburn-based Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. in a cash merger valued at $50 million.
The deal includes Bitstream’s font website, font identification service, typeface library, layout technologies, a range of mobile fonts and 10 patents. As a result of the deal, 15 Bitstream employees will become Monotype employees, as will approximately 40 engineers and designers based in India.
Bitstream said it will focus on its publishing and web-to-print division, Pageflex, as well as its mobile web browser technology, known as Bolt.
Bitstream created a company called Marlborough Software Development Holdings Inc. to hold those non-font assets. Pinhas Romik, Bitstream’s general manager, will serve as CEO of the spinoff company.
Amos Kaminsky, Bitstream’s chairman and interim CEO, said in a statement that the proposed transaction provides the company’s shareholders with “significant cash proceeds by monetizing Bitstream’s legacy font business for an amount which represents most of Bitstream’s current market capitalization.”
