PDF editing software vendor Foxit has purchased an e-documentation rival, eSign Genie, for an undisclosed amount.
Phil Lee, chief revenue officer at Foxit, said the acquisition builds on Foxit’s focus on innovative and best-in-class productivity offerings for knowledge workers across all industries.
“Customers of both Foxit Sign and eSign Genie will benefit from the collaboration of these two powerful platforms and we are committed to integrating the solutions with zero disruptions to users,” he said in the announcement.
US based eSign Genie’s offering centres on legally-binding electronic signature technology for businesses of all sizes. According to the company, it is favoured by professionals in sectors from healthcare, non-profit and legal to real estate and education.
According to Foxit, the companies have already been working together, building Foxit’s recently announced Foxit Sign offering, a full, legally binding and secure e-signature workflow application for digital contracts, agreements and forms.
However, eSign Genie will continue to operate independently, support existing customers, and expand globally while taking advantage of Foxit’s “global reach and PDF expertise”, the company said.
Mahender Bist, founder and CEO of eSign Genie, said: “Integrating eSign Genie into Foxit products will truly accelerate the innovations we can provide to our customers.
“We want to make Foxit Sign the most powerful and valued e-signing solution on the market.”
AI prospects for PDF technologies
Eugene Xiong, founder and chair of Foxit, suggested in a Forbes opinion piece last month that AI will continue to spur developments in digital documentation.
“For example, AI-powered intelligent document processing is helping to convert unstructured data in digital documents into structured data that can be fed into downstream applications to automate business processes,” he said.
“It is also being used to improve the way we create, read and edit digital documents.”
Xiong said that PDF technology is increasingly integrating AI into workflows, which he believes can improve user experience as well as efficiency.
“It can help users more rapidly and accurately compare documents when reviewing files, reducing human error and processing costs,” he said.
Foxit has already integrated AI capabilities into its PDF solutions, Xiong said, giving examples such as translation of documents produced in other languages.
