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EU approves Japan’s Ricoh to buy IBM’s printer business
BRUSSELS,
Belgium: EU regulators on Wednesday approved the acquisition by Japan’s
Ricoh Co. of International Business Machines Corp.’s printing division
as IBM focuses on more profitable parts of the technology industry.The
European Commission cleared the deal automatically after identifying no
antitrust problems and receiving no complaints from rivals within 25
working days.Ricoh will pay IBM US$725 million (€558.6 million) in cash
up front and an unspecified remainder later. It initially will own 51
percent of the new company, InfoPrint Solutions Co., and will take full
ownership within three years.Faced with middling overall growth in
corporate technology spending, IBM has sold off several units in recent
years in hopes of increasing its profit margins. The biggest deals have
included the US$2.05 billion (€1.58 billion) sale of the company’s
disk-drive business to Hitachi Ltd. and the US$1.75 billion (€1.35
billion) sale of its personal-computer business to China’s Lenovo Group
Ltd.IBM’s printing division has a long history but has diminished in
importance over time. In 1991, IBM sold off its typewriter and low-end
printer businesses, creating a company that became today’s Lexmark
International Inc.The remaining division now heading to Ricoh
has focused on high-quality production printing hardware and software
for large businesses. It is profitable, according to IBM Executive Vice
President Nick Donofrio.InfoPrint Solutions will have about 1,200
employees and headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. Eventually, an
additional 1,000 IBM printer-maintenance specialists may join the
company, depending on how the business progresses.It will be headed by
Tony Romero, who had been managing the business for IBM.
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