VANCOUVER, British Columbia--Dec. 17, 2002--Creo and Xerox Corporation have signed a contract, under which Xerox will purchase Spire color servers from Creo for a period of five years, for sale with current and future Xerox high-end digital printers. The agreement expands and strengthens the two companies' relationship, establishing a long-term strategic partnership. Recognized by Xerox as a 'strategic vendor', Creo will continue to devote resources to the ongoing development of advanced color server technologies and workflow, and is committed to supporting Xerox customer satisfaction initiatives. Spire Color Servers Drive iGen3 As a result of the new agreements, Creo is supplying Xerox with Spire color servers that are integrated with the new state-of-the-art digital printer from Xerox, the DocuColor iGen3 digital production press. Offering unmatched print speed, image quality, cost-effectiveness and paper-handling capabilities, the DocuColor iGen3 color press and the Spire color server are already installed at customer sites in Europe and North America. Print jobs produced on the DocuColor iGen3 have also won awards from industry associations. Developing the Market "The commitment by Xerox to partner with Creo is of critical importance to its ongoing efforts to gain market share among commercial printers, who are a prime target for the Xerox DocuColor iGen3," said Ron Gilboa, director, CAP Ventures. "Our research shows that 46 percent of the print volume for devices such as the DocuColor iGen3, are pages that are transferred from offset presses. Partnering with Creo has helped Xerox meet the needs of these commercial printers and other print service providers." Delivering Value "The Creo Spire color server has helped us deliver a great deal of value to our customers in the graphic arts industry," said Anthony Federico, senior vice president, Development, Xerox Document Systems and Solutions Group. "We are committed to providing our customers with the best workflow solutions available." "We are very pleased with the evolving relationship between Creo and Xerox," said Amos Michelson, chief executive officer, Creo. "We consider Xerox a very important customer. Our stronger collaboration brings added value to all Creo customers by enabling us to offer them digital on-demand printing." As part of the agreement, Xerox and Creo will cooperate in joint marketing initiatives and solutions that streamline the production process. Creo and Xerox lead the digital print market with an established line of successful solutions based on Creo Spire color servers and the Xerox DocuColor 2000 series.