In a market play designed to grab a larger share of the rapidly shrinking global printer market, HP Inc is to buy Samsung’s printer business for $1.05 billion.
The deal will see Samsung Electronics buy between $100 million to $300 million worth of HP shares on the open market after the acquisition is completed. On the other side of the buyout, HP Inc will gain key laser-printing technology and be in the position to focus more on different market segments.
Signalling the biggest acquisition since HP split from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the deal will give the company the ability to expand its portfolio of products and services, moving beyond printers to find new sources of revenue.
New sources of revenue will be vital for HP going forward as traditional printing declines due to the growth of mobile devices and digital services.
HP Inc faces an uphill struggle as printing declines, yet the acquisition of Samsung’s printer business gives them access to the copier industry, a $55 billion market which has not innovated in decades. HP is looking to be the company to introduce innovation into this market by integrating the Samsung printer business' products, including their mobile-first and cloud-first user experience, with HP's next-generation PageWide technologies.
"When we became a separate company just 10 months ago, it enabled us to become nimble and focus on accelerating growth and reinventing industries," said Dion Weisler, president and CEO of HP.
"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. 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."
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The acquisition of Samsung’s printer business will see HP gain a compelling intellectual property portfolio of more than 6,500 printing patents, in addition to a workforce that includes nearly 1,300 researchers and engineers.
