Microsoft to Buy Israeli Digital Pen Provider N-trig for at Least $200m

REUTERS - Microsoft is buying N-trig, an Israeli provider of digital pens and chips for touch screens, for at least $200 million, the Calcalist financial news website said on Thursday.

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Most of N-trig's 190 workers will be integrated into Microsoft Israel and will be part of a new research and development center, Calcalist said, without citing sources.

Officials at N-trig and Microsoft in Israel could not be reached for comment.

N-trig was valued at $75 million when it raised money privately last February.

N-trig had revenue of $36.7 million in 2013, up 38 per cent from 2012. Revenue totaled $20.6 million in the first half of 2014, when it sold 1.3 million digital pens, more than three times the amount it sold in the same period of 2013.

Microsoft, which owns 6.1 per cent of the company, signed a deal last year to integrate N-trig' s pen in its Surface Pro 3 tablets. Other investors in the company include Evergreen Venture Partners, Canaan Partners and Tamares.

Customers for N-trig's technology include Sony, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo for use in smartphones, tablets and ultrabooks.