January 22, 2002 - Nachum "Homi" Shamir, CEO of Scitex Digital Printing, told the Dayton Business Journal he'd like to take the company public within the next year or two, boosting annual sales to about $1 billion within several years. Shamir said the 9/11 event has placed much of their plans on hold and would have pursued it earlier despite the economic slowdown. Scitex Digital Printing is a subsidiary of Israel-based Scitex Corp. The digital printing unit had double-digit growth in sales and earnings for the first three quarters of 2001 according to the Journal. Shamir said he wants to take the company public to dilute the size of the ownership stake the parent company has in Scitex Digital Printing, and to provide more research money to accelerate growth. Said Shamir, "If we can go raise money, we can probably triple the size of the business. If we can penetrate into becoming an offset alternative company, in a couple of years we can be a billion-dollar-per-year company instead of a couple of hundred million." The Journal also cited recent media reports last month saying the Israeli parent was considering a $150 million offer from an unnamed U.S. company to buy Scitex Digital Printing. Shamir downplayed reports of the takeover offer, he admitted Scitex Corp. is a holding company and would consider an offer if the price was right.