Printers: Xerox wants to take over Lexmark

The Xerox Group wants to take over the printer manufacturer Lexmark. Xerox has reached an agreement with the owners Ninestar and two Chinese investors, the company announced on Monday. The takeover has a total volume of around 1.5 billion US dollars.

In return, Xerox is taking over all of Lexmark's assets and debts. Xerox is financing the takeover with its own cash and a loan. The annual dividend will be reduced by half to 50 cents per share.

Strengthen core business

The Xerox Board of Directors has unanimously approved the takeover and its financing, it is reported. The transaction is still subject to the approval of Ninestar's shareholders and various regulatory authorities. The sale is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.

The acquisition of Lexmark will enable Xerox to strengthen its core business, the company announced. Among other things, Xerox expects this to strengthen its position in the growing market for A4 color printers and in sales in Asia. The merger with Lexmark could move Xerox into the group of the five largest printer manufacturers.

According to IDC, a good 20 million printers were shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2024 for a total of 9.4 billion US dollars. HP is the market leader with a 35 percent market share, followed by Epson and Canon with a good 21 percent each.

"Industry leader with shared values"

"The acquisition of Lexmark will bring together two industry leaders with shared values, complementary strengths and a strong commitment to advancing the printing industry into one organization," said Xerox CEO Steve Bandrowczak.

Lexmark is a US company headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. The manufacturer emerged from the spin-off of IBM's printer, keyboard and typewriter division in 1991. In 2016, Lexmark was acquired by the Chinese consortium around Ninestar (then Apex Technology).

Xerox is currently undergoing radical change and wants to "reinvent itself". The Group will be restructured in 2024, with 15 percent of jobs to be cut. The company finally buried plans for a hostile takeover of market leader HP when the coronavirus pandemic emerged in spring 2020.

(vbr)