Privately held Quark, which develops publishing software for professional designers and enterprises and is best known for its QuarkXPress (QXP) desktop publishing layout editor, has been acquired by Platinum Equity, a private equity firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Brian Wall, the partner at Platinum Equity who led the team pursuing the purchase, says the PE firm has already kick-started a process focused on transitioning Quark to new ownership.
Based in Denver, Colorado, Quark provides a set of software applications that enable the creation, management, publication, and delivery of content across a variety of media including print, email, web, social media, as well as e-readers, tablets and mobile devices. Its main rival is Adobe.
The company was founded under the name “Quark Engineering” in 1981. Quark was previously owned by the Ebrahimi family, which acquired it from founder Tim Gill in 2000.
Platinum Equity was founded in 1995 by billionaire (and Detroit Pistons owner) Tom Gores, and has since completed more than 115 acquisitions. The Los Angeles firm owns companies like The San Diego Union-Tribune, U.S. Robotics, Vanguard Networks, Canvas Systems and MegaPath.
Quark was founded in Denver, Colorado in 1981. Named after the subatomic particle proposed as the building block for all matter, the goal was to create software that would be the platform for publishing Two decades ago, Quark helped spark the revolution in desktop publishing with the 1987 release of QuarkXPress. Desktop publishing was in its infancy, and most publications were produced mechanically. QuarkXPress introduced precision typography, layout, and color control to the desktop computer, and it delivered those features...
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