Monotype today announced that it has agreed to acquire URW Type Foundry, a subsidiary of Global Graphics PLC. Based in Hamburg, Germany, URW is an innovative font and software provider, with extensive experience in designing and engineering fonts to service the needs of global brands.
With the acquisition of URW, Monotype will immediately expand its library of type IP to include 513 new and popular typeface families such as Corporate S Pro, Futura, Franklin Gothic, URW DIN, and Nimbus Sans Global, among many more. The URW designs will be included as part of Monotype’s Mosaic solution and available for purchase on MyFonts.com. Monotype’s Mosaic solution empowers creative teams to discover, share and prototype limitlessly with 14,000+ of Monotype’s premier fonts – while making it easier to license, deploy and manage the usage of fonts across enterprise and partner networks.
“Over the last several decades, URW has produced type used by many iconic brands around the world, and provided technology that has been adopted as the standard for digital font development,” said Monotype CEO Scott Landers. “The team’s design, engineering, and brand expertise will help us deliver greater value to the creative community through the Monotype Library, Monotype Studio and Monotype’s Mosaic solution.”
URW has created custom or modified typefaces for some of the world’s most prestigious brands including Daimler, Siemens, Dräger, fischer, Deutsche Telekom, and T. Rowe Price, among others. Through its IKARUS system, the company has pioneered digital font design and production for decades. It has been owned by Global Graphics PLC since 2015. “After leading URW through an incredible period of growth in partnership with Global Graphics, we’re very excited to join the Monotype family to collaborate with the largest and most experienced foundry in the world,” said Peter Rosenfeld, Managing Director of URW Type Foundry GmbH.
In its own statement, Global Graphics acknowledged the mutual support for the deal. “For more than four years, URW has been a key part of the Global Graphics group of companies, so the decision to sell URW to Monotype was not something we took lightly,” explains Mike Rottenborn, CEO of Global Graphics PLC. “However, the core business of Global Graphics has moved closer to digital press manufacturers, while fonts are primarily marketed to designers and major brands. Monotype is the world leader in fonts and was already an important sales channel for URW’s type library, so their offer to acquire URW assures continuity for URW’s customers as well as an excellent value for the shareholders of Global Graphics.”
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