A digital media consortium lead by the company’s original founder has announced the acquisition of Cambridge Animation Systems from Japanese investment bank Nomura. The new owners have also announced that the company will move to a new larger facility in Cambridge, England to help accommodate its growth.
Cambridge Animation Systems makes 2D and 3D animation software developed for film, television, games and Web media. Although most of Cambridge Animation Systems’ products are designed to run on non-Mac platforms, the company originally got its start on NeXTSTEP, the operating system that served as Mac OS X’s progenitor. Cambridge Animation Systems’ flagship product, Animo, has been developed for Mac OS X. In fact, it’s expected to hit the streets next month.
Peter Florence, the Cambridge Animation Systems founder who led the purchasing consortium, said that Nomura’s management efforts have made the company “an attractive investment.” Under Nomura, Cambridge Animation Systems was reorganized, expanded its product offerings and set up a growing reseller network worldwide. Florence also explained why the consortium is moving the company to a larger facility.
“With Animo 4.0 for Mac OS X due out next month, and a number of other products scheduled for release by early 2002, it was imperative that we move the company to larger, superior facilities. This will allow us to expand quickly once the market recovers from this period of consolidation,” said Florence.