TOKYO — May 23, 2013 — SATO, a leader in barcode printing, labeling, and EPC/RFID solutions,
announced today its strategic investment in Nexgen Packaging, a global provider of apparel brand
identification and packaging products.
Founded in 2006, Nexgen Packaging, a privately held company, is a leading provider of brand
identification products to both apparel manufacturers and retailers for their private label
programs. Nexgen focuses its efforts on the design, marketing, manufacturing and distribution of
woven and printed labels, heat transfers, graphic tags, price tickets & item level RFID labels
and tags.
“We have seen healthy growth in our RFID business and Nexgen’s brand identification
relationships and item level RFID experience are highly complementary to our own product strategy
and growth initiatives,” stated Kaz Matsuyama, President & CEO of SATO Holdings Corporation.
“The investment in Nexgen Packaging exemplifies our mission to grow internationally and complements
the business models of both Nexgen and SATO alike.”
Nexgen will continue to operate as an independent entity, and the current Nexgen management
team will remain in place. Going forward, SATO and Nexgen will leverage strategic benefits from
each other, such as mutual RFID development and deployment, as well as leveraging SATO’s global
footprint. As mentioned, both companies plan to operate independently with a “strategically
complementary relationship” to ensure that both companies take full advantage of their strengths.
“Few companies have the depth of experience and focus on innovation in variable data printing
and RFID-encoding as SATO,” said Andy Effron, Managing Partner of Nexgen. “Our new relationship
with SATO strengthens Nexgen in the expansion of global operations and delivery of industry-leading
innovation to better serve our customers. We are very excited about this partnership, and look
forward to working closely with the SATO global team.”
Posted on May 28, 2013
Source: Sato Corp.
