Scitex is withdrawing from two high tech joint ventures, Karat and Vio.

Scitex is getting rid of 2 of its Joint Ventures

Karat Digital Press – selling shares to KBA

Scitex has reached an agreement in principle to conclude its joint venture with Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA).

The company said that since the Creo transaction and DRUPA, it had become clear that the best future for Karat lay in closer integration with KBA’s production and distribution activities. Under the terms of the agreement, Scitex will sell its share of Karat to KBA in return for future performance related payments.

KBA will be responsible for manufacturing, sales and customer support operations of Karat Digital Press machines worldwide.

Consummation of the transaction is subject to final agreements and necessary approvals by both parties.

Vio Worldwide Limited – management buyout

London based Vio is a partnership between Scitex and British Telecom. Its area of activity is the transfer of graphics files via Internet.

An agreement in principle has been signed for a management buyout of the business. Consummation of the transaction is subject to final agreements and necessary approvals by both parties.

Scitex will retain a right to obtain a future interest in the company.

All expected costs related to the conclusion of the Karat and Vio joint ventures are included in the 2000 financial statements as part of the share in losses of equity investments.

The musical chairs continue after the merger, now it is the Creo/Scitex America turn. An Ex-Kodak is now at the helm of Ex-STA.

Creo Products appoints an Ex-Kodak as new president of CreoScitex America

Creo Products Inc., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, named Larry Letteney president of CreoScitex America, the U.S. arm of the graphic arts operating division. Effective March 1, Letteney will replace Kevin Joyce, who will assume a new role in Business Development. Since joining Creo in 1995, Letteney has held a variety of leadership positions including vice president of Sales and vice president of Operations. In his new position, he will report to Mark Dance, executive vice president of Creo and president and COO of CreoScitex. Prior to joining CreoScitex, Letteney had more than seven years of experience working in the Graphics Arts Division of Eastman Kodak Co.

Yakov Aizikowitz’s XMPiE GETS $3.5M BOOST FROM JVP. XMPie spunn off from Scitex last year.

XMPiE GETS $3.5M BOOST FROM JVP The Netanya, Israel based XMPiE, http://www.xmpie.com a developer of cross-media personalized marketing solutions, announced that it has received an investment of $3.5 million from Jerusalem Venture Partners. Spun off from Scitex in July 2000, XMPiE is on the verge of beginning pilot tests of its first product. The company has earmarked the financing for completion of product development, to implement field trials and for the establishment of marketing, distribution and support operations, initially in the United States. The company founded by the ExScite’s Yakov Aizikovitz , Israel Roth and Reuven Sherwin.

One-to-one marketing solutions developer XMPiE closes $3.5 million financing round by JVP

Netanya, ISRAEL – January 29, 2001 – XMPiE ( www.xmpie.com ), an innovative developer of cross-media personalized marketing solutions, today announced that it has received an investment of $3.5 million from Jerusalem Venture Partners. Spun off from Scitex in July 2000, XMPiE is on the verge of beginning pilot tests of its first product. It has earmarked the financing for completion of product development, to implement field trials, and for the establishment of marketing, distribution and support operations, initially in the US.

Personalized marketing is already becoming an essential element of every modern business strategy. However, the implementation of one-to-one marketing campaigns across multiple media, such as print, email, and Web, poses significant logistical and technical challenges that have not yet been overcome. XMPiE’s solution is expected to revolutionize the field by transforming cross-media personalized campaign creation and correction cycles, raising the productivity and creativity of design professionals, and shortening time to market. It offers one-to-one marketers the valuable competitive edge of rapid turnaround time from initial idea, through proofing, to live campaign launch, and enables them to adjust to changing market conditions quickly and cost-effectively.

“The XMPiE solution expands corporations’ ability to leverage their extensive customer databases in order to interact personally with their customers via every possible channel,” said Yuval Cohen, JVP General Partner. “Our investment in XMPiE is in line with JVP’s policy of investing in Internet infrastructure companies. We are confident that its unique technology and the team’s track record of developing relevant revolutionary technology will make XMPiE a global leader in its field.”

Yoav Chelouche, President and CEO of Scitex Corporation, said: “XMPiE’s technology bridges the gap between Web-personalization and print-personalization. We believe that by appealing to both domains, XMPiE’s technology will be instrumental in helping full-color digital printing realize its full potential.”

Added Dr. Jacob Aizikowitz, President and CEO of XMPiE: “Our goal is to make personalization an extension of the proven desktop publishing discipline and to relieve personalized publishing from its current dependency on heavy programming and scripting. The JVP investment and Scitex’ standing in the publishing industry greatly enhance XMPiE’s potential for market success.”

About XMPiE

Founded in July 2000, privately held XMPiE Inc. provides innovative software solutions for cross-media personalized marketing. The company was spun off from Scitex and is led by a team of professionals with extensive experience in digital printing, personalization, and prepress. XMPiE Inc. is registered in the USA. It operates a wholly owned R&D subsidiary, XMPiE Ltd., located in Israel.