United States site instead?Budapest/Santiago – June 17, 1999
On the heels of launching Graphisoft Brazil in São Paulo less than a month ago, Graphisoft (Frankfurt Neuer Markt: GPH) today announced that it will further strengthen its presence in the South American market with the acquisition of Archisoft S.A., its long-time and successful distributor partner in Chile. With the continuing development of its two new subsidiaries, the Company now expects its total investment in the South American market to total USD 1M.
“We believe very strongly that South America’s building industry has an exciting future that can only be enhanced by our investment,” said Graphisoft President and CEO Gábor Bojár, commenting on the acquisition. “The recent upward turn in the Asia/Pacific region has proven that our strategy of investing even in times of temporary economic difficulties allows us to gain market share. With Graphisoft’s sound financial position, we will be able to accelerate our growth in the South American market, as we did in Japan, and achieve our long-term objectives as a truly global company.”
The two companies signed the agreement at Graphisoft’s recent worldwide distributor meeting. Graphisoft Chile will continue to support its local client base of architectural offices and universities using almost 600 copies of Archicad throughout the country.
“With the support of Graphisoft R&D Rt., Graphisoft Chile will be able to offer enhanced service and training to current and new users,” said Leonardo Munoz, head of Archisoft S.A., who is to become Graphisoft Chile’s managing director. “My long-term commitment to Graphisoft and to the local architectural community ensures that Archicad will continue on its path to becoming the building industry standard in Chile.” Munoz studied architecture at the Pontifical Catholic University of Santiago, Chile, and received his MBA in 1998.
Graphisoft Chile will be located in a new office park in Santiago, designed using Archicad by a team of local architects.
Graphisoft is a leading provider of computer-aided design (CAD) software
solutions for the architectural profession and the building industry.
Founded in 1982, Graphisoft is ranked today among the largest AEC CAD
software developers in the world, with 12 offices all over the world in
addition to its headquarters. Graphisoft’s flagship product, Archicad, is
used by more than 75,000 architects worldwide and distributed in 25
languages and 80 countries. Shares of Graphisoft are traded on the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange Neuer Markt under the symbol GPH. More information about
Graphisoft is available at www.graphisoft.com.