Barco (manufacturer)

Barco NV

Euronext Brussels: BAR BEL 20 component
ISIN	BE0003790079
Industry	Technology
Founded	1934
Founder	Lucien De Puydt
Headquarters	Kortrijk, Belgium
Key people	Charles Beauduin & An Steegen, CEOs
Products	display technology, projection technology, connectivity platforms, image processing
Revenue	€1.029 billion (2018)[1]
Number of employees	3600 (2018)
Website	www.barco.com

Barco NV is a Belgian technology company that specializes in digital projection and imaging technology, focusing on three core markets: entertainment, enterprise, and healthcare.

Barco is an acronym that originally stood for Belgian American Radio Corporation.[5] Barco was founded in 1934 in the town of Poperinge, in the Flemish-speaking region of Belgium. Founder Lucien de Puydt's initial business was to assemble radios from parts imported from the United States – hence the name of his company, the Belgium American Radio Corporation, or "Barco".

Radio pioneer Camiel Descamps gave the company a new start in 1941 in Kortrijk after founder Lucien Depuydt died. His wife Maria-Anna Reyntjens and his brother-in-law Joseph Versavel assisted him. Later on, also Elie Timmerman joined them. Starting from their office in Kortrijk, the company started to grow and spread around 90 countries across the globe.

In 1949, Barco started developing a multi-standard television that accepted different signal standards, becoming a leader in that field. A jukebox called Barc-O-Matic was sold from 1951. In 1967, it was one of the first European companies to introduce color TV. Building on this, it then entered the professional broadcast market in the late 1960s, supplying TV monitors to broadcasters.^[6]

From the 1960s onwards, Barco branched out into numerous other activities, which included mechanical components for industrial use, and quality control monitoring for the textile and plastics industries. In 1967, Barco became the first European manufacturer to produce transistor-based portable televisions.^[7]

Barco first entered projection technology in 1979, when it pioneered the development of cathode ray tube (CRT) projection aboard airplanes. Over the following years, it gradually focused solely on professional markets.^{[citation needed]}

In the mid-1980s, Barco became a main projection technology supplier for computer giants

Through the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium, Barco developed and marketed new display technologies such as liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diodes (LED), Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing (DLP), and later, liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS). It now covers markets that include media and entertainment, security and monitoring, medical imaging, avionics, 3D and virtual reality, digital cinema, traffic control, broadcast and training and simulation.

In 2018, Barco entered into a joint venture with China Film Group Corporation (CFG), Appotronics and CITICPE to commercialize each company's products and services for the global cinema market excluding mainland China: Cinionic.^[8] In Barco's case, this involved the company's cinema projectors.

Sustainability

Barco's Corporate Sustainability Committee, consisting of 13 members, under the leadership of Filip Pintelon, devises an overall sustainability strategy. Under the label "Barco 2020", Barco is currently developing a sustainability plan encompassing three pillars: their people, their community and the planet.

A few achievements:

• Supplier Sustainability program^[9]
• Health and Safety Arrangements^[10]
• Compliance^[11]

Acquisitions

• In 1989, Barco acquired EMT, a manufacturer of phonograph turntables and professional audio equipment, which became Barco-EMT.^[12]
• Barco Graphics was the graphics division of the Belgian Barco Group. It was the result of the 1989 merger of Digitized Information Systems Corporation (D.I.S.C.), Aesthedes and Barco's own "Creative Systems" group.
• In 1995, Barco acquired Elbicon, a manufacturer of inspection systems for the food processing industry.^[13]
• In 1997, Barco acquired
  flight simulation market.^[14]
• In 1998, Barco acquired Dr. Seufert, a manufacturer of visual sub-systems for integration in process control rooms.[15]
• In 1998, Barco ETS, now
  Gerber Systems Corp., a manufacturer of plotters and automatic optical inspection (AOI) systems for printed circuit boards.^[16]
• In 1999, it acquired Metheus Corporation, a Tektronix spin-off and manufacturer of professional graphics controllers.^[17]
• In 2000, it acquired Texen, a subsidiary of Thales (ex-Thomson).^[18][19]
• In 2004, it acquired
  Voxar, a 3D medical imaging software
  company.
• In 2004, it acquired
  image processing
  , image communication and image functionality & interactivity.
• In 2008, it acquired
  lighting controls
  company.
• In 2010, it acquired Fimi S.r.l., a company specialized in medical image displays, from Philips (no relationship with
  Fimi
  , Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana).
• In 2010, it acquired all intellectual property of Element Labs, a manufacturer of LED equipment.
• In 2010, it acquired dZine, a Belgium-based company specialized in Digital signage.
• In 2012, it acquired IP Video Systems, a company specialized in networked visualization.
• In 2012, it acquired JAOtech, a manufacturer of patient entertainment and point-of-care terminals for hospitals.
• In 2013, it acquired AWIND, a manufacturer of hardware and software for wireless presentation systems.
• In 2013, it acquired projectiondesign, a manufacturer of projection technology.
• In 2014, it acquired X20 Media Inc., an enterprise communication specialist.^[20]
• In 2014, it acquired IOSONO GmbH, a 3D audio expert.^[21]
• In 2015, it acquired
  Advan Int'l Corp.
  , a manufacturer of LCD displays.
• In 2016, it acquired Medialon Inc., a US based company.^[22]
• In 2016, it acquired
  HDR).^[23]
• In 2019, it acquired a 5% stake in Unilumin group, a china based LED manufacturer.^[24]

Divestments

• In 2000, Barco splits its shares in Barco New and BarcoNet
  Scientific-Atlanta in 2001^[26] and becomes whole owner of a after buy-out of the remaining shareholders in 2002.^[27]
• In 2001, Barco Graphics was acquired by Danish
  Esko-Graphics, which was again renamed Esko
  in 2006.
• In 2003, Barco sold Barco-EMT including trademarks to Walter Derrer. The company is continued as EMT Studiotechnik GmbH.[29]
• In 2004, Barco sold its Dotrix activity to Agfa–Gevaert.^[30]
• In 2007, BarcoVision was acquired by Itema Group from Bergamo, Italy.^[31]
• In 2008, Barco sold its Advanced Visualisation (AVIS) group (the previously acquired
  TMSC).^[33]
• In 2014, Barco divested a wholly owned subsidiary of Barco NV, Barco Orthogon, based in Bremen, Germany, to Exelis.
• In 2015, Barco's Defense & Aerospace division was sold to US-based Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE: ESL).^[34]
• In 2017, Barco sold High End Systems to Electronic Theatre Controls.^[35]
• In 2018, Barco's X20 Media was sold to Stratacache.^[36]
• In 2018, Barco divested the wholly owned subsidiary Barco Silex, which becomes Silex Inside.^[37]

Management

• CEO 2021 Charles Beauduin & An Steegen ^[38]
• CEO 2016-2021 Jan De Witte
• CEO 2008–2016 Eric Van Zele
• CEO 2002–2008 Martin De Prycker
• CEO 2002 Hugo Vandamme

Active markets

• Entertainment: cinema, venues and hospitality
• Enterprise: control rooms, education and meeting rooms
• Healthcare: diagnostic, surgical and clinical imaging

See also

• Barco Creator
• Barco Escape

References

External links

• Official website