Xerox which is a copy maker business has been mulling on its take-over of the PC company, HP reportedly offering a deal of cash-and-stock offer at a premium to its market value of about $27 billion as cited from a Wall Street Journal.
Xerox’s Board considered this possibility on Tuesday but it has not been confirmed yet if they will follow through this deal. The board members were also not available for comment after work hours.
Only the future will tell what direction this play will move toward as even considering the acquisition of HP by Xerox which is several times higher than its market value, financing the deal would be quite a task for the copy maker company. There have been no comments made available by HP in this regard.
However, Xerox has announced that they will be selling their 25% stakes in Fuji Xerox, its joint venture with Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp. for $2.3 billion. And there also have been some reports that Xerox will receive informal funding commitment from a major bank. Reputedly, it can be interpreted as Xerox equipping itself for the possible take-over of the personal computer giant in the near future.
Reportedly, Xerox had wanted to merge with Fujifilm last year with the $6.1 billion on the stakes but after gaining the much-needed funding through its two main investors, Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason they decided to scrap their deal with Fujifilm.
In recent years, HP has been suffering from dropping percentage in its revenue from its printing business and with the advent of smartphones and internet services; it has also been struggling in the personal computer section.
Similarly, Xerox also appears to have been hard-hit globally as the world moves toward the usage of cloud technology and other internet services. And if both of these US Giants consider joining up, they can surely save each other from becoming obsolete in the coming decades and compete squarely with their business rivals.
Just a month ago, HP has appointed a new chief executive in all its four years of unchanging leadership structure and under his directive; they aim to slash their workforce by 16% as part of their restructuring and this decision is expected to cut their heavy costs and boost their sales.
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