Monotype Acquires FontShop

Renowned type company Monotype has acquired the font portal FontShop, including its US and European offices, and FontShop AG, the company’s German distributor. In addition, the purchase includes the FontFont library of Erik Spiekermann, FontFont’s co-founder and well-known type designer.

Monotype’s president and CEO, Doug Shaw, and Spiekermann both point to the synergistic blending of Monotype’s business acumen and FontShop’s creative connections with font designers and end users as major benefits of the acquisition. Monotype also cites the broader push into the important German typographic market as a huge advantage. As far as we, the end users, are concerned, Monotype states that there will be more selection, better implementation, and extended licensing options for fonts from “screen to print.”

Another concern to type enthusiasts and end-users is what will become of the TYPO conferences held in the US and Europe. Monotype intends to continue FontShop’s extremely popular conferences that have been a fixture throughout the typographic community. And for the foreseeable future, Erik Spiekermann will serve as a typographical consultant to Monotype. An FAQ about the acquisition, as well as the entire press release, can be found on the Monotype website.