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Lexmark International Inc., the Lexington-based maker of printers and management software, announced Tuesday it had completed its sale to China-based Apex Technology and that its CEO of six years, Paul Rooke, is being replaced.
In April, Lexmark announced it had agreed to be acquired by a group of investors headed by China-based Apex Technology and PAG Asian Capital. Lexmark officials said the agreement was an “all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.6 billion, or $40.50 per share.”
Rooke, who had been with the company for 25 years, told Business Lexington then that the sale represented the “outcome of our strategic review” and that he expected few changes – or job cuts – to result on the Lexington campus. At least one of the cuts announced Tuesday, however, was Rooke himself.
“As the company enters its next phase, it is time for the next generation of leadership to continue the work to ensure Lexmark’s industry leadership,” Rooke said Tuesday in a statement.
Rooke is being replaced by David Reeder as president and chief executive officer of a new “consortium” that includes Apex, PAG and Legend Captial Management Co. (See Business Lexington’s profile of Reeder from April 2015, shortly after he became
Provided
Lexmark_Reeder
Lexmark’s chief financial officer: http://smileypete.com/business/2015-04-24-lexmarks-new-cfo-david-reeder-makes-the-transition/.)
“We are now uniquely positioned to grow the company in China and greater Asia, along with continuing to deliver industry-leading products and services to customers in other regions of the world,” Reeder said Tuesday. “I’m honored to lead Lexmark into its next phase of opportunities and growth.”
The company will be privately held and the company’s stock is no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to officials, Lexmark will retain its Lexington headquarters while working to sell of its “enterprise software” division. That division will rebranded back to Kofax, a California-based software company that Lexmark purchased in March 2015 for about $1 billion in what now looks a last gasp bid under Rooke to strengthen Lexmark’s hand in a shifting economic and technological landscape.
The sale to Apex was a reversal on Rooke’s strategy. After it’s announcement in April, the plan faced regulatory scrutiny from both U.S. and Chinese authorities.