Canon to acquire Dutch printer maker Océ for $1.1 billion

Japanese imaging giant Canon Inc is set to takeover Europe's largest printer manufacturer, Océ  for approximately €730 million ($1.1 billion) in an all-cash deal, aiming to create the world's largest printing entity, benefiting from an excellent complementary fit in product lineup, R&D and business lines.

According to the conditional agreement reached yesterday between both the companies, Canon offered to buy all the outstanding shares of Océ at €8.60 a share, which represents a 70-per cent premium over the closing price on 13 November and 137 per cent above the average price over the past one year. The offer values 100 per cent of the issued and outstanding shares of Océ at around €730 million.

Holders of Océ's cumulative preference shares Ducatus NV, ASR Nederland NV and ING AM Insurance Companies BV, with approximately 19 per cent of the total share capital, and another large share holder Bestinver Gestion SA owning about 9.5 per cent have agreed to tender their shares to Cannon.

Further to the takeover news, Océ shares skyrocketed 70 per cent to close at €8.62 yesterday on Amsterdam Stock Exchange, while Canon shares were down 1.5 per cent at ¥3,370 in Tokyo.

Venlo, Netherlands-based Océ is one of the world's leading providers of document management and printing solutions by offering office printing and copying systems, high speed digital printers, wide format printing systems for technical documentation and color display graphics as well as related services and supplies. The company has strong presence in Europe and North America and employs about 22,000 people. Its 2008 revenue amounted to $4.3 billion.

Canon president and chief operating officer Tsuneji Uchida

Canon president and chief operating officer Tsuneji Uchida said: ''Through the merger of Canon and Océ, we believe that we will be able to realize clear benefits, not only in the area of R&D, but also in terms of product mix and marketing and are confident that this winning combination will contribute greatly to our goal of becoming the overall No. 1 presence in the printing industry.''