Canon buys Dutch Oce for $1.1 bln, fights Ricoh

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Gilbert Kreijger

TOKYO/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Japan's Canon plans to buy Dutch copier and printer maker Oce for 730 million euros ($1.09 billion) as it tries to return to growth after the global downturn and fight rival Ricoh.

Copier and digital camera maker Canon and Oce said in a joint statement Monday that Canon intends to offer 8.60 euros per share, or 730 million euros, for Oce's outstanding shares.

Canon's offer follows little over a year after Japan's Ricoh, the world's largest copier maker, bought U.S. office equipment distributor Ikon Office Solutions, a deal which transformed Ikon from an independent distributor to a Ricoh unit.

Canon, Oce and rivals have suffered from the economic slump, which forced companies to cut spending, including costs on copying and printing.

Oce, which was loss-making in the past two quarters, has been cutting costs and jobs and has not paid a final 2008 dividend, while Canon and Ricoh reported sharp falls in their quarterly profit last month.

"The deterioration of the economic market circumstances has influenced the performance of the industry but it was not the initiator for the strategic review process which after thourough and careful evaluation lead to this proposal of joining forces with Canon," Oce CEO Rokus van Iperen told reporters.

Oce shares were up 68.6 percent at 8.54 euros by 0924 GMT, reaching their highest level since June last year.

Including debt and other obligations, the deal values Oce -- which competes with Xerox and Konica Minolta -- at about 1.5 billion euros ($2.2 billion), Van Iperen said.