Acquisition Will Deliver Significant Value to Shareholders,
Strengthen Offerings To Customers and Create Opportunities For Employees
IKON Office Solutions (NYSE:IKN, “IKON”),
the world’s largest independent channel for
document management systems and services, today announced that it has
signed a definitive agreement with Ricoh Company, Ltd. (TSE:7752, “Ricoh”),
under which Ricoh will acquire IKON for $17.25 per share, or
approximately $1.6 billion in cash.
The combination of IKON and Ricoh will leverage IKON’s
sales and services capabilities with Ricoh’s
engineering and manufacturing expertise to better meet the needs of
customers by offering full end-to-end office solutions and services.
IKON Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Matthew J. Espe, said, “Following
an extensive review of our strategic opportunities, our Board conducted
a formal process to evaluate alternatives for the Company, and has
approved this attractive transaction for our shareholders, customers and
employees. The offer represents a 33% premium over IKON's trailing
60-day average stock price as of market close on August 26th.
In addition, combining with Ricoh, one of the world’s
most respected and innovative companies, will enable us to strengthen
our offerings to customers and create new opportunities for our
employees.”
Espe concluded, “We remain fully committed to
providing the highest quality of support and service to all our
customers.”
With this acquisition, Ricoh, headquartered in Japan and one of the world’s
leading manufacturers of high quality multifunction products, printers,
fax machines and related supplies, will significantly enhance its global
presence.
Shiro Kondo, President and CEO of Ricoh Company Ltd., said, “IKON
has terrific strength in areas that complement Ricoh’s
growth strategy. IKON has advanced Professional Services capabilities
with a long list of satisfied large customers. IKON is respected as well
for its production print sales and service expertise. We are excited to
add the very experienced IKON management team and the thousands of
skilled and dedicated IKON employees to the Ricoh family.”
The transaction, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of
both companies, is subject to regulatory approvals in the U.S., Canada
and Europe, customary closing conditions and IKON shareholder approval.
Ricoh will finance the transaction with a mix of internal and external
funding.
