Ricoh and Hitachi signed Agreement on Ricoh’s acquisition of Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd.
Tokyo, August 9, 2004 --- Ricoh Co., Ltd. (TSE:7752 / ‘Ricoh’) and Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE:6501 / ‘Hitachi’) today announced that the two companies have signed an agreement to the effect that Hitachi will transfer all its shares of Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd. (‘Hitachi PRS’), a 100% owned subsidiary, to Ricoh. Both companies had agreed on a basic agreement on March 31, 2004. Details are as follows:
Main contents of the agreement ;
Ricoh will acquire 100 % shares of Hitachi PRS.
After the transfer of shares, the contractual relationship between Hitachi and Hitachi PRS will basically remain unchanged.
After the transfer of shares, the president of Hitachi PRS will be Mr. Toshiaki Katayama
In accordance with this agreement, Ricoh will acquire Hitachi PRS, thus enhance and expand printer business, which is an important pillar of its growth strategy. The participation of Hitachi PRS in the Ricoh group will reinforce Ricoh product lines for the office color printer, mission-critical systems and POD, or print-on-demand, markets. Through these initiatives, Ricoh will optimize "Total Document Volume" as the strategic objective of its imaging solutions business. Also, by adding the IT sales channels of Hitachi PRS to its conventional PPC/MFP sales channel, Ricoh can expect the synergy effect to expand printer business.
Hitachi, for its part, is making every possible effort to ensure that all its businesses win in the global marketplace in accordance with its mid-term business plan: "i.e.HITACHI Plan II." This agreement was made within the context of this plan. Hitachi sees printers as important products for its information and communication systems business and intends to provide its customers with even higher valued-added solutions, maintaining all the while a strong business partnership with Ricoh.
After the transfer of shares, new name of the company will be “Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd.”.
1. Corporate profile of Hitachi PRS
|
(1)Name |
Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd. |
|
(2)President |
Toshiaki Katayama |
|
(3)Address |
15-1, Konan 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan |
|
(4)Date of incorporation |
October, 2002 |
|
(5)Business content |
Printers and related equipment, software development, product development, design, production and marketing |
|
(6)Fiscal year-end |
March 31 |
|
(7)Number of employees |
820 (Group 2,200) as of March, 2004 |
|
(8)Capital stock |
5,000 million yen (Number of shares held 100,000) |
|
(9)Net sales |
About 60,000 million yen (fiscal year ended in March 2004) |
2. Changes in share holding ratios
|
Current |
Ricoh 0% |
Hitachi 100% |
|
After the transfer (plan) |
Ricoh 100% |
Hitachi 0% |
3. Schedule
Scheduled transfer of shares: October 2004
Influence on Ricoh and Hitachi consolidated financial figures Ricoh will announce it at the time when the forecast for the latter half of fiscal 2004, ended on March 31, 2005, is released. Influence to Hitachi is rather limited.
About Ricoh
A pioneer in digital office equipment, Ricoh offers a broad range of office solutions with world class support and services, including MFPs, printers, fax machines, CD-R and DVD+ReWritable drives and media. With 381 consolidated subsidiaries worldwide, employing approximately 73,200 people, the Ricoh Group posted consolidated total sales of 1,780.2 billion yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004.
About Hitachi Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT/ TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2003 (ended March 31, 2004) consolidated sales totaled 8,632.4 billion yen ($81.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com