The OEM has now formally acquired Seiko Infotech’s wide-format business.
In a press release, the OEM confirmed that it has now acquired the wide-format business from Seiko I Infotech (SIIT), after reporting in June that it was set to acquire it. The OEM will acquire the “globally-deployed” wide-format arm previously operated by SIIT’s subsidiary, Seiko Infotech (SII), having previously noted that the two main companies had “exchanged a memorandum” and would aim to complete the deal by 1 October 2015.
The deal has seen OKI and SII sign a “stock purchase agreement for the acquisition of all SIIT shares held by SII”, while OKI’s European and US subsidiaries have “each signed asset purchase agreements” with SII’s representative businesses in those regions. The deal “will not affect the various products and services currently provided” by SIIT, which consist of “products and services related to wide-format printers”.
OKI noted that it “positions the high-value-added printer business” as a “major growth area and an important target business segment”, particularly the “professional printer market”. The OEM also expects this wide-format market to see “continued growth in demand” by around six percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate), due to “accelerated on-demand printing needs” in both retail and distribution sectors.
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In detail, OKI will now “acquire a portfolio of wide-format inkjet printers for signs and LED graphic plotters”, as well as “the technologies and development resources together with the relevant sales channels”. It stated that it will “strive to enhance its business activities in the professional printer market through offering one-stop printing solutions particularly targeted at the printing, distribution, and retail industry sectors.
“By integrating technologies and resources between the parties through the acquisition, OKI Data Corporation will enhance its product portfolio and product development capabilities”. In the earlier release regarding the acquisition, OKI noted that SIIT is “highly regarded” in the sign and graphics and engineering markets for its high product development capability of wide-format printers”, as well as its “strong sales force specialised in these target industries”.
However, for its wide-format business to “achieve further expansion and growth”, it believes “the enhancement of global sales as well as its product portfolio is essential”. As a result, it has been “looking for an opportunity to realise these objectives through forming alliances with other companies”. OKI’s plans to enter the “high-value-added printer business domain” is “one of the major growth areas” in its mid-term business plan, and having “built a strong reputation” for its “highly reliable” LED machines, the OEM aims to “achieve business growth within the professional printer market”.
This, according to both companies, has meant that OKI “believes it must enhance its technology development capability and product portfolio as well as strengthening its sales channels in new product areas”. With wide-format being one of these areas, SII stated that it “highly valued OKI Data’s track record and potential for future growth” in the sector, and that “this formed the basis of the memorandum exchange”.