It’s not known if the sale will have an impact on Lifetouch in Galion

By Russ Kent, Galion Inquirer

GALION — Shutterfly Inc. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Lifetouch, the national leader in school and family photography. Bringing Lifetouch into the Shutterfly family combines two market-leading organizations that share a common purpose – to share life’s joy through photos. This transformational acquisition for both companies brings together two uniquely complementary businesses to drive growth and better serve our customers.

 

This message appeared on the Lifetouch website this afternoon.

It’s unknown if the sale will have any impact on Lifetouch in Galion, which specializes in church directors.

The sale is not mentioned on the local Lifetouch.com which is the site that comes up in a Galion Lifetouch search.

Hopefully some clarity will come to this area Wednesday.

This statement is from Lifetouch CEO Michael Meek, and appeared on the company’s website:

“For more than 80 years, Lifetouch has been a household name for family-focused, professional photographic services. Effective January 30, we begin a new chapter in our history, and we believe the combination of Lifetouch and Shutterfly will have many compelling advantages for our customers, partners and employees.

“We share a common vision and a deep passion for helping consumers and institutions do more with images and memories. As a combined company, we can serve our customers across all of the key milestones in the life of a family, helping them commemorate important moments starting at birth, throughout the school years from pre-school to graduation, and on to marriage and holidays.

“Importantly, as Lifetouch continues to leverage technology to better serve our customers, Shutterfly’s capabilities across photo management, product creation and ecommerce will accelerate this transformation, and our combined financial resources will firmly position us to invest in our business. We are excited about our prospects as we move forward together as a larger, stronger, combined enterprise.”

Also on that website is a news release from Shutterfly, and answers to frequently asked questions and a preview of what current customers and employees can expect from the sale.

The Galion Inquirer will update this story when more information is received.