Today, Eltron is not on any list. It does not exist anymore. It's a scenario played out again and again all over Los Angeles. To be a dominant player in a niche industry is a better investment opportunity from a leveraged-buyout perspective. In Eltron's case, the buyer was Zebra Technologies Corp. of Vernon Hills, Ill., in a deal that closed last October.
Zebra manufactures high-end printers that retail for thousands of dollars.
One executive who witnessed Eltron's growth, acquisition and integration is Hugh Gagnier, who was with Eltron since its initial public offering in 1993. We were always under the gun because a lot of companies doubted we would be successful. To keep on track, Eltron made several technological advancements and targeted overseas markets. In 1998, for example, it introduced printers specially designed with fonts for Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters. At its peak, Eltron had 687 employees worldwide, Gagnier said.