Canon's Bid For Oce Not a Sure Thing

Date: February 16, 2010

New York, NY -- In spite of earlier indications of a successful joining of Oce and Canon, the deal is far from done. Canon intends to purchase all ordinary shares of Oce at a rate of 8.6 euros through an all cash public offer. If Canon were successful in their bid, it could create a massive boost for Canon in the printing industry. According to CIOL.com (and Reuters), Orbis Portfolio management has made claims that Canon has significantly undervalued the Dutch company Oce. Orbis has a 10 percent share holding in Oce which it is presently declining to tender over to Canon. A spokesperson for Orbis has spoken out vehemently, making claims that the negotiation process was flawed.

Yesterday, in response to the potential acquisition, Oce’s shares shot up a bit to 8.615 euros which could result in a higher bid from Canon or a counterbid by another major player in the printing industry. Some other potential suitors include HP, Kyocera, Xerox, Toshiba, or Konica Minolta. Kinoca Minolta has a cross-selling agreement in place with Oce. Oce has denounced Orbis’ claims of flawed negotiations. In Oce’s and Canon’s favor, many analysts on Monday November 16 when the potential deal was first announced, stated that the bid price was good for Oce shareholders.

The offer from Canon comes a year after one of their largest rivals, Ricoh, bought Ikon Office Solutions who Canon supplied with over 60 percent of their products. That acquisition had a significant impact on Canon, which may have been one of the things that led to the potential purchase of Oce shares.

Be sure and check back with us for any updates in the near future!

BY ADAM HAIGH, Editor