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Xerox to buy printer maker Lexmark in $1.5 billion deal

By Lynn Doan Washington Post

Xerox has agreed to buy the laser printer maker Lexmark International Inc. from a consortium of Asian investors in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.

The transaction includes debt and other liabilities that Xerox will assume from current owners Ninestar Corp., PAG Asia Capital and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre. Xerox will cut its annual dividend to 50 cents a share from $1 to help finance the takeover, according to a company statement Monday. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending approval from US and Chinese regulators.

Lexmark, spun off in 1991 by International Business Machines Corp., is already a partner and supplier to Xerox. An investor group led by Chinese printer maker Apex Technology Co. and dealmaker Shan Weijian’s PAG agreed eight years ago to buy the company in a deal valued at $3.6 billion including debt. Chinese investment firm Legend Capital was also part of the consortium. Since the deal, Apex later changed its name to Ninestar.

The new owners later sold the company’s enterprise software business to private equity firm Thoma Bravo.

Shares of Xerox were up 4.4% in premarket trading on Monday after briefly dipping. The company didn’t provide the amount of debt it would be taking on from Lexmark.

Lexington, Kentucky-based Lexmark is led by Chief Executive Officer Allen Waugerman, who has been with the company since its founding. After its takeover by the Asian consortium, it has remained governed by a US-based board of directors and kept an all-American executive team, according to its website.

Xerox plans to finance the deal with a combination of cash and debt financing. The company said the transaction will cut its pro forma gross debt leverage ratio to about 4.4 times before synergies from six times as of Sept. 30 after cost synergies.

Bloomberg reported in September that Lexmark’s owners were considering a sale.

Jefferies LLC is serving as the financial adviser to Xerox. Citigroup Inc. is also providing financial advice. Ropes & Gray LLP and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP are serving as its legal advisers.

Morgan Stanley is the financial adviser to Lexmark, and Strait Capital Management is financial adviser to Ninestar. Dechert LLP is serving as legal adviser to Lexmark, Ninestar, PAG Asia Capital and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre. King & Wood Mallesons is also serving as counsel to Ninestar.