Xerox’ US$1.5 billion acquisition of Lexmark could take the company “back to the future”, retracing its history and gaining strength in the Asia Pacific region.
The US$1.5 billion (A$2.44 billion) deal made with Ninestar Corporation, PAG Asia Capital and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre is inclusive of “assumed liabilities”. There is also speculation it could replace – in some respects – the partnership Xerox had with Fujifilm until the end of its Fuji Xerox joint venture
Importantly, as Wideformat Online’s Andy McCourt observes, Lexmark brings additional sales channels and a network of dealers. Already a supplier, Lexmark is known as the company that made IBM’s keyboards and printers in a past century, making hardware in Australia at one time.
The Xerox board has already approved the transaction, which also needs a nod from Ninestar’s shareholders as well as regulatory approvals
Chief executive officer Steve Bandrowczak makes the usual optimistic statements, talking of a broader global business, “better suited to meet the evolving needs of clients in the hybrid workplace”.
“By combining our capabilities, we will be better positioned to drive long-term profitable growth and serve our clients, furthering our reinvention,” he says.
The new organisation will serve more than 200,000 clients in 170 countries with 125 manufacturing and distribution facilities in 16 countries.
Even given the partners’ history, the question of what if anything, all that might mean for the news media industry is open to speculation. Ideas of expanding the digital printing of newspapers went out the window with COVID 19, never to be recovered. As green shoots tentatively reappear, it will be interesting to see whether the technology will again find a place. If it does, ”reinvented” Xerox could again be a player.
Peter Coleman
Pictured: An IBM PC AT made in the late 1980s in Wangaratta, where Victoria hoped to seed its own ‘Silicon Valley’. (Photo: Museums Victoria)