HP Inc has announced the acquisition of Samsung Electronics’ printer business in a deal valued at $1.05bn.
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“We’ve been working with Samsung to build this portfolio during the past year and when we saw the power of the technology we had, we realized that it was a technology we wanted to own”, said Enrique Lores, president of the imaging and print solutions at HP.
Samsung’s printer business includes more than 6,500 printing patents. The purchase gives the freshly separated print and personal-system vendor a stake in the $55 billion copier industry, where today, the vendor has less than 5 percent market share. “The acquisition of Samsung’s printer business allows us to deliver print innovation and create entirely new business opportunities with far better efficiency, security, and economics for customers”.
Last week, HPE realigned its portfolio and product roadmap through an $8.8 billion deal with Micro Focus, a software company based in Newbury, England.
Under pressure following the recall of the Galaxy Note 7 Samsung has moved to appoint Jay Y. Lee, the son of chairman Lee Kun-hee, to the board of Samsung in what’s widely seen as a step towards formalizing his role as the next head of the company. Earlier this year, Lexmark International Inc. agreed to be acquired by an investment consortium led by Apex Technology Co. and PAG Asia Capital in a transaction that values the company at $3.6 billion.
The argument could be made that Samsung is selling one business unit to make up losses in another. Samsung will source printers from HP and continue to market in Korea under the Samsung brand.
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“We are doing this with 3D printing and the disruption of the $12 trillion traditional manufacturing industry, and now we are going after the $55 billion copier space”, Weisler said in a statement.
