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Kell & Ryan via Flickr

Company behind Waterford crystal sold for €390 million

Waterford Wedgwood went into receivership in 2009 and was bough by KPS which today agreed the sale.

FINLAND’S FISKARS SAYS it has agreed to buy luxury home goods maker Waterford Wedgwood, whose brands include Waterford crystal and Wedgwood china, for €390 million.

The Finnish home, garden and outdoor products maker said the purchase of WWRD from KPS Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, is part of its strategy to become a leader in the premium home and lifestyle products market.

KPS has bought the company for €107 million after it went into receivership in 2009.

Last year, seven thousands private donations helped save a historic collection of Wedgewood pottery by raising €3.5 million to save the museum in Britain where it was being kept. The company’s massive pension debt had threatened the future of the museum.

Fiskars Corp., which also owns the Ittala and Royal Copenhagen brands, said the deal is subject to an antitrust filing in the US and is expected to close in July.

WWRD has 226 stores and employs 3,800 people in 14 countries. Its brands also include Royal Doulton, Royal Albert and Rogaska.

- Additional reporting from AFP. 

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13 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rob
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    Jul 8th 2014, 5:56 PM

    Without being funny, how do they point at the text in any way accurately?

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    Mute N O'C
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    Jul 8th 2014, 6:00 PM

    It’s for vision impaired people, who can see that there is text there, but cannot read it.

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    Mute zebedee
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    Jul 8th 2014, 6:01 PM

    This is a great piece of news…..the joy of reading brought back to the visually impaired. What a gift!

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    Mute Patrick Moran
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    Jul 8th 2014, 6:05 PM

    Great invention. Now if we could only find it.

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    Mute Mary
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    Jul 8th 2014, 7:21 PM

    Not just for people with vision impairment. I would think reading comprehension could be enhanced by hearing the words as they are being read. If the voice was natural this could be a fantastic device for a lot of people.

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    Mute Andrew Haire
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    Jul 8th 2014, 8:34 PM

    Yes , like dyslectic readers. A brilliant invention .

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    Mute joehig100
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    Jul 8th 2014, 6:01 PM

    If that was an app that could have been sold to the masses like shazam ( same principal … kind of ) it would have been done years ago…. Well done anyway

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Jul 8th 2014, 6:19 PM

    Ok. If this is possible why not just take a hi-res photo of the page and have text-to-speech translate that without the need for anyone to point the finger?

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    Mute Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh
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    Jul 8th 2014, 9:07 PM

    The much greater potential now has arrived for language translation say from English to Irish and vice-versa thus eliminating expensive and unnecessary paper use.

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    Mute Jim
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    Jul 8th 2014, 10:22 PM

    What a great machine

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    Mute Jenny Brandon
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    Jul 8th 2014, 9:41 PM

    Why not use a kindle reader with text to speech on?

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    Mute Ollie
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    Jul 8th 2014, 9:04 PM

    Great news.

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    Mute Noel Wilson
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    Jul 8th 2014, 9:09 PM

    Would it work for foreign text? Nifty idea.

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