Blog: Lectra looks ahead

Leonie Barrie | 9 January 2004

I spoke with Lectra CEO Daniel Harari this-morning, still euphoric at the response to his company’s 51.5 million euros purchase of Spanish rival Investronica earlier this week. Still waiting for official feedback from customers, he was relieved that the acquisition had been greeted so warmly in the financial markets – a 20 per cent hike in share price in two days. And the deal finally lays to rest the jostling for pole position that has characterised the relationship between Lectra and Gerber over the past few years.

Daniel believes CAD/CAM installations in the Far East, Eastern Europe and North Africa will continue to grow since “companies have no choice but to invest to be competitive.” And when I asked him whether it was necessarily a good thing to have less choice in terms of CAD/CAM vendors, he replied: “What counts for customers is to have the best payback and best value for money. Our job is to make sure our customers are more efficient and make more money. I don’t think it’s better to have more competitors on the market; I think it’s better to get more for your money.” Based on Lectra's recent track record, it's hard to argue.