TOKYO, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Company, Ltd. (TSE: 7752, "RICOH") (President & CEO: Shiro Kondo) today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with IKON Office Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: IKN, "IKON") to acquire IKON (the "Transaction") through RICOH's wholly owned U.S. distribution subsidiary, Ricoh Americas Corporation ("RAC"). The Transaction is supported by both RICOH and IKON and has been approved by the Boards of Directors of the respective organizations.1. Background
RICOH (headquartered in Tokyo, Japan) is a global leader in imaging solutions that has brought to the market innovations such as digitalization, network solutions, and colorization. In the rapidly growing printing and document solution areas, RICOH's challenge has been to strengthen its channels for assessing customers' potential needs and making appropriate proposals based on a customer-driven approach. In the extremely competitive U.S. market, RICOH is committed to further strengthening its sales and support channels.
As the world's largest independent channel for document management systems and services, IKON (headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania) supplies and services a wide range of office equipment, such as MFPs (multi-function printers), fax machines and printers, in the U.S., Canada and the Western European markets. With over 400 sales and service locations, IKON has a long track record with Fortune 500 companies among its customers. RICOH has been a key supplier to IKON, and the relationship between the two companies has a long history. In addition, IKON also provides professional services and document outsourcing services to a wide variety of customers.
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