Agfa history

1873: Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Carl Alexander von Mathius found color dye factory in Germany, which becomes Aktien Geschellschaft fur Anilinfabrikation (Agfa) in 1873.

Many Chinese immigrants arrived and worked as mine laborer, as well as “towkays” (business owners in the Chinese Hokkien dialect) came in to invest in shop houses, making it then and now a predominantly Chinese town. It was transformed into a bustling town during the tin rush in 1877.

Agfa became one of Europe's pioneers in the newly emerging photography sector as well, and by 1888 the company had already begun producing its first photographic chemicals and equipment.

In Belgium, meanwhile, the photographer Lieven Gevaert had begun to produce his own photographic papers, setting up shop in Antwerp in 1890.

An Agfa researcher developed a new photographic chemical, Rodinal, in 1891, which became an industry standard for black-and-white development, unrivaled throughout the next century.

In 1894, Gevaert incorporated his company as L. Gevaert & Cie, and began producing a wider range of photographic chemicals, papers, and equipment.

By 1897, Agfa had trademarked its name, which quickly became a reference in Europe for high-quality imaging products.

1904: Gevaert moves production and headquarters to Mortsel.

Agfa expanded its own production in 1908 with the construction of a new film factory, at the time the largest in Europe.

In 1916 Agfa began developing materials for color photography.

In 1920 the company he founded became Gevaert Photo-Producten NV.

When Agfa obtained the Rietzschel camera works in Munich from Bayer in 1925, it tagged all Rietzschel products with its Agfa rhombus.

In 1926 it introduced the first true Agfa camera, the Standard.

In 1927 the successful Billy camera series was introduced, and Agfa licensed Ansco to manufacture its products for the American market.

In January 1928 Ansco merged with Agfa in the United States and the name is changed to Agfa Ansco Corporation.

In 1936 Agfa introduced ‘Agfacolor-Neu’, a real sensation throughout the whole photographic world.

The division of Germany between the Allied and Soviet governments severed Agfa from its main production site in Wolfen; instead, production of photographic materials resumed at the Bayer headquarters in Leverkusen in 1945.

F.M.S. existed up to the end of the second world war and the liberation of the Japanese occupied Malaysian territories and the formation of The Malayan Union by the British in 1946."

Agfa itself officially returned to business only in 1952, and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer AG the following year.

1953: Agfa becomes wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer.

Over the next decade, Agfa continued its legacy of innovation, introducing the first fully automatic camera in 1956, and the first European color paper processing machine the same year.

In 1959, Agfa also introduced the world's first fully automatic 35 mm camera.

Agfa-Gevaert NV, Belgian corporate group established in 1964 in the merger of Agfa AG of Leverkusen, West Germany, and Gevaert Photo-Producten NV of Mortsel, Belgium.

1972: Agfa introduces first European-designed copy machine.

1981: Bayer assumes full control of Agfa.

As long ago as 1982, Agfa-Gevaert had already taken a majority share in the Compugraphic Corporation (USA), which provided state-of-the-art typesetting capabilities at an affordable price.

The archive had been kept in Varenthof, a castle next to the former factory since 1985.

By then, Agfa had raised its profile in the graphics industry with the acquisition of the United States' Compugraphic, a manufacturer of electronic pre-press equipment in 1988.

The company also played a part in revolutionizing the film development industry with the launch of the first mini-lab in 1989.

1992: Agfa Corporation is placed under Bayer subsidiary Miles Inc., based in Pittsburgh.

1996: Agfa acquires Hoechst's printing plate and proofing equipment business Ozasol.

Agfa struck again in 1998, this time buying the offset printing and graphic arts film operation from DuPont, adding some $600 million in sales.

1999: Bayer spins off Agfa-Gevaert as a public company, retaining a 25 percent stake.

These acquisitions forecasted a central component of the group's reorganization, launched in 2001.

In 2002, Agfa acquired Mitra, one of the most important global suppliers of imaging and information management systems for healthcare.

2003: Company buys U.K.-based Printing Techniques Ltd.; sells NDT unit to General Electric; completes new production facility in China in a move to increase its share of Asian market.

In November 2004, Agfa divested all its photographic activities to the new, independent company AgfaPhoto.

Also in 2005, Agfa acquired Heartlab Inc., a leading American designer and supplier of image and information networks for cardiology, and Med2Rad, the leading developer and supplier of information systems for radiology in Italy.

By 2006, the overall number of photos being printed will remain roughly the same, Lyra predicted, but the number taken using analog technology will fall to just over 20 billion, while those taken with digital cameras will leap to more than 10 billion.

In 2009, Agfa added Direct Radiography to its imaging portfolio.

In 2010, the acquisition of Gandi Innovations allowed Agfa to extend its inkjet portfolio.

Posted by Michael Pritchard on October 7, 2015 at 7:53 View Blog

In 2016, Agfa acquired the TIP Group, an Austrian specialist in hospital Business Intelligence.

In 2017, management launches a transformation program to stop the top line erosion and to return to growth in the medium term.

January 1, 2019, the company adopts a new structure.

In May 2020, the Agfa-Gevaert Group successfully completes the sale of part of the HealthCare IT division’s activities to the Dedalus Group.

In January, 2021, the Board of Directors expresses the intention to organize the Offset Solutions activities into a stand-alone legal entity structure and organization within the Agfa-Gevaert Group.