Fujifilm boss Shigetaka Komori has given Xerox’s new management team six months to accept the previously agreed takeover deal, or come up with new terms that are beneficial to both parties.
Speaking to financial journalists at a briefing in Tokyo, Fujifilm’s chairman and chief executive rejected the notion of making an increased, $40 per share offer for the business.
The figure of “at least” $40 per share was the benchmark touted by activist investors Darwin Deason and Carl Icahn, who have successfully put a halt to the $6.1bn original takeover deal agreed in January between Xerox’s then-board and Fujifilm.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that Komori said Fujifilm was “not opposed to considering any new proposal from the new Xerox board if it’s beneficial for both firms,” but the $40 per share sought by Icahn & Deason was “too high.”
Fujifilm could end the merger talks altogether if there is no progress in around six months. The Japanese manufacturer believes that Xerox cannot realistically stay in business without the benefit of the products that come from the Fuji Xerox joint venture, it was reported. Fujifilm currently owns 75% of Fuji Xerox.
Fujifilm is set to make a further court filing in New York next week in relation to the thwarted deal.