Talk:Harlequin (software company)

From Harlequin to Global Graphics

In the summer of 1999, Harlequin Ltd. went into bankruptcy. The US subsidiary of Harlequin Group PLC did not enter bankruptcy. In July of 1999, Global Graphics purchased Harlequin Group PLC out of bankruptcy and acquired the worldwide assets. At the time, Global Graphics has both hardware and software divisions. Harlequin, the company, eventually became Global Graphics Software (ltd in the UK and Inc in the US). A while after the sale of the hardware division, Global Graphics Software became just Global Graphics.

The ScriptWorks RIP remained, eventually to be renamed to what most people called it: the Harlequin RIP. I suppose this means a new entry for this RIP should be made to this page?

FTR: This is my first Wikipedia posting of any sort.

Source: Well, I worked for Harlequin in 1999 and continue in the employ of Global Graphics. So the source, such as it is, is my memory.

Global Graphics

Bankruptcy is not a legal status for a company in the UK, just a colloquial usage. I wonder what actually happend. Insolvency? Receivership? Clearly Harlequin wasn't liquidated, as a lot of it continued intact. I note that the main article uses the phrase "was declared bankrupt" which can't actually be true. RPTB1 (talk) 19:46, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

There were definitely receivers; I remember talking with them. NDL will have definitive information in his filing cabinet. Nick Barnes (talk) 19:52, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Discussion of page move from Harlequin Inc.

I have performed the move; I preserve the discussion here Nick Barnes 12:32, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Harlequin Inc. was the name of just one subsidiary of the company which started life in the UK as Harlequin Ltd and later changed its name to the Harlequin Group Ltd. All this history is a bit too much for a title and the proposed disambiguation will convey the right meaning. Nick Levine 11:32, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

• Support Nick Levine 11:41, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
• Support. The article is about the whole entity, not just the US subsidiary. Nick Barnes 11:44, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
• Support Austin Hair ✍ ✉ 20:41, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose. The name of the company was "The Harlequin Group Limited" and that should have been the article name. There is no need for a disambiguated article name if it is not needed. Also, what is the name of the company for sure? harlequin.com redirects to Global Graphics. As noted below, the company name did change. So the article should be moved and a redirect left from all of the old names. In cleaning up the article, this can be explained under the history. I'll probably be bold and do the move. Vegaswikian 00:20, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

In response to Vegaswikian's remarks: The name of the company *became* "The Harlequin Group Limited", in about 1992 or 1993, when Harlequin Inc was formed. The name prior to that was simply "Harlequin Limited". As I recall, Harlequin Limited became The Harlequin Group Limited, and a new UK company was formed to be Harlequin Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary, like Inc and Pty). In other words, the entity which is the subject of this article *changed its name* about half-way through its existence, but everyone apart from the company lawyers and accountants knew the whole entity simply as "Harlequin", or as "Harlequin, the software company" when disambiguation was necessary. Nick Barnes 10:28, 30 November 2005 (UTC) _____________

I think the page title may be wrong. My recollection is that the parent company was Harlequin Group plc, which owned Harlquin Limited (the UK arm) and Harlequin, Inc. (the US arm). Bovlb 07:42, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC)

I don't think that Harlequin was ever a plc.Nick Barnes 13:05, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

So far it seems that Global Graphics is now the name of the company. All of the other names should be explained in the History section. I have not seen anyone correcting GG as the name of the company, so I'm thinking this is correct. Vegaswikian 20:17, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

"So far it seems" to whom? The only basis for that is the remarks below (under "From Harlequin to Global Graphics"). It's a ridiculous assertion. If I bought IBM, renamed it "Spong Frobnicators Inc", sold off the consultancy business, spun out the mainframe division, and turned the remainder into a company making polystyrene packing peanuts, should the IBM page be renamed Spong Frobnicators Inc? No, the very idea is absurd. Nick Barnes 11:46, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

I would have agreed with Nick Barnes about this (that Hqn wasn't wever a plc), excecpt that I made the mistake of looking it up. Top piece of paper that came out of my filing cabinet (letter from the receivers, after Harlequin went into liquidation, to all employees, dated 1999-06-30) is signed on behalf of "Harlequin Group Plc and Harlequin Limited (both in administrative receivership)". So now we know. Another set of papers (hmm, contains a list of creditors, really interesting) is headed "Hqn Realisations Limited (formerly Harlequin Limited in Administrative receivership)" and lists under the the heading of "Previous names": "Harlequin Limited (until 27 July 1999)" and "Bridevale Limited (until 14 April 1993)". --Nick Levine 04:35, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Another gem from the filing cabinet - a four page "history of the business". I'll take it into work and scan it. --Nick Levine 04:35, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Functional Objects ceased operation in January 2006 and the former Dylan product line of Harlequin is now open source ( [1]. This should be added. pet-ro 21:21, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

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