Avanquest Software Acquires Leading Personal And Small Business Productivity Software Supplier Nova Development

Published 18th January 2007

Avanquest Software, a leading developer and publisher of business and consumer software for the global PC market with operations in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, today announced it has acquired Calabasas, CA-based Nova Development, a worldwide developer and publisher of software products for Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Founded in 1984, Nova Development is a market leader in personal and small business productivity software ranking #1 in home graphics and design software in the U.S. (source: NPD 2006). Nova Development currently publishes more than 80 software titles for both the Macintosh and Windows platforms, with nearly half of their annual sales resulting from products developed by the company.

In 2006, Nova Development posted annual sales of approximately $32 million and projects more than $38 million in sales for 2007. The company’s level of profitability over the last three years was above 10%; the projection for 2007 is for operating income exceeding 11%.

Bruno Vanryb, Founder and CEO of Paris-based Avanquest Software, commenting on the acquisition, stated, “This acquisition enables us to continue our international diversification and to strengthen our position in the #1 software market in the world – the United States. Nova Development presents an amazing opportunity and potential for growth: not only is it a leader on the American market, the company also boasts a line of software and a development model that can be directly transposed on an international scale, as well as on the internet.

“Besides the numerous synergies between Nova Development and Avanquest Software, this acquisition will also allow us to surpass our very ambitious objective of €100 M in sales in 2007, while delivering on our goal to show strong leadership in all of our geographical areas.”

Among the highlights of the Nova catalogue are digital photo management tools Photo Impact and Photo Explosion, popular clip art program Art Explosion, productivity for small businesses with programs such as Business Plan Writer or Invoices and Estimates Pro, and utility software with titles such as Drive Erase or Transfer your PC. Nova Development also publishes leading brands such as Berlitz for language learning.

Roger Bloxberg and Todd Helfstein, founders of Nova Development, will both become Avanquest Software shareholders and will continue to hold senior executive management positions after the acquisition. They will also play a leading role in the international development of the group's sales, as well as the implementation of synergies on all of the company’s levels.

In a statement issued by Bloxberg and Helfstein, who respectively are CEO and President, the pair said: “We are very pleased to become part of the Avanquest family of companies and are excited about the many opportunities that this combination presents. This transaction creates for both parties an enhanced leadership position among consumer software publishing companies – both in North America and in Europe – and creates immediate new opportunities for each party’s existing software content in the other’s channels.”