LUND, Sweden – Axiell announced an agreement to acquire Infor Library & Information Solutions, a business within Infor, the industry cloud company. The acquisition is expected to close in February.
The Infor Library & Information Solutions business delivers solutions and services to the library sector and serves more than 180 customers in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The acquisition is driven by Axiell’s expansion strategy, focusing and strengthening its offer in the public library and education industry. The acquisition also advances Axiell’s global reach and establishes a local presence and industry-specific competence in countries where staff are located. The acquisition accelerates the availability of cloud technology to libraries and schools enabling them to, at their pace, join the community of customers, which work with Axiell’s sustainable and digital-first cloud-based library services platform, Quria®.
“I am thrilled that we are bringing the in-depth knowledge and experience from Infor’s staff, portfolio of solutions, and customers into Axiell’s community of 3,000 library customers, which has been growing since the mid-1980s when we started in this industry,” said Joel Sommerfeldt, President and CEO of Axiell Group. “Our experience from previous acquisitions, 21 of them since 2013, will be leveraged to ensure that the integration process is successful. Our focus is on continuing to build strong customer relationships and providing a leading service. The customers will be able to transition to solutions within the Axiell portfolio when they are ready. Our commitment to our customers is to provide the most modern solution for libraries that aspire to innovate and provide relevant services to their patrons.”
Jean-François Piat, General Manager of Infor’s Library & Information Solutions business, said, “Infor’s Library & Information Solutions business will greatly complement Axiell’s deep portfolio of culture and knowledge solutions and expanding global footprint. Axiell is in a strong position to grow the business and provide customers with holistic solutions to meet their needs, as they migrate to cloud environments. We also will work closely with the Axiell team to ensure that Infor employees moving to the Axiell organization have continued opportunities to thrive within its business.”
Axiell’s acquisition of the Infor Library & Information Solutions business establishes an innovation-based path for public libraries to speed up their digital transformation process. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become even more apparent how important digital transformation is for public libraries. To remain relevant to modern audiences and to strengthen their position in society in a sustainable way, public libraries and other cultural institutions need to actively explore new ways of working with modern technology. Axiell’s lasting commitment to the library industry has seen major developments in recent years, most notably in the cloud-based library services platform, Quria. Quria, as part of Axiell’s portfolio of solutions, positions leading public libraries to grow and meet future needs.
Quria is a cloud platform where all of the library’s resources and workflows can be managed together. This includes physical collections, digital resources, library activities, events, e-media and all communication channels. Quria provides the library with a modern structure for the metadata in its collections. The metadata structure in Quria supports linked data and is aligned with emerging metadata standards such as FRBR, IFLA-LRM and RDA. The system simplifies staff’s internal work and frees up time for initiatives like visitor outreach and reading promotion. The platform also encompasses Quria Discover, for advanced search and presentation of works and events, and Quria School, for a modern and efficient way to bring library resources into the classroom.
No further information about the transaction is disclosed.
Tagged with acquisition, Infor