Lexmark International Inc., the beleaguered Lexington-based maker of printers and management software, announced Tuesday evening it has agreed to be acquired by a group of investors headed by China-based Apex Technology and PAG Asian Capital.
“What we are announcing this evening is an outcome of our strategic review,” Paul Rooke, Lexmark chairman and chief executive officer, told Business Lexington Tuesday evening.
Lexmark said the terms of the agreement are an “all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.6 billion, or $40.50 per share.”
The sale still needs regulatory approval by both U.S. and Chinese authorities, Rooke said.
Asked if he expected the sale to result in job cuts in Lexington, Rooke said: “With this transaction, we expect very few, if any.”
Lexington Mayor Jim Gray issued a statement late Tuesday on news, saying: "Lexmark's corporate headquarters will stay in Lexington and they do not expect significant changes in employment. Lexmark and IBM before them have been valued members of our corporate community for many years. I look forward to a productive positive relationship between Lexington and Apex Technology and PAG."
Rooke pointed to the sale being for the entire company, instead of being partitioned off, and the two companies different product lines as reasons to expect little impact.
Rooke said the Lexmark name would remain, as would the company’s headquarters in Lexington.
“We’re expecting essentially business as usual,” Rooke said.
Rooke, who said he will stay on as leader after the transaction is complete, described the sale as good for Lexmark’s shareholders, customers and employees.
He said the announced layoffs in March of 140 Lexington employees was not related to the sale but part of previously disclosed restructuring plan.
“Those cuts had to do with the macro-factors going in the business,” he said.
According to a news release announcing the sale, Apex Technology Co. Ltd., was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China. According to the news release, it is a leading manufacturer and supplier of printer inkjet and laser cartridges. PAG Asia Capital, meanwhile, is described as the “buyout arm of PAG, one of Asia's largest private equity firms.”
“The transaction has been unanimously approved by Lexmark's Board of Directors and represents a 30 percent premium to Lexmark's undisturbed closing stock price on Oct. 21, 2015, the date prior to the news of Lexmark's exploration of strategic alternatives becoming public,” according to the press release.
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