After disputing media reports only a few days ago, Ricoh has now officially announced the conclusion of the partial acquisition of common shares in Fujitsu Limited (Fujitsu) consolidated subsidiary, PFU Limited (PFU).
Ricoh will acquire 80% of the shares of PFU and make it a subsidiary of the Company.
During the five years of FY2021-FY2025, which are positioned as “Ricoh Lift Off,” Ricoh’s global strategy remains focused on driving transformation to become a digital services company to ensure sustainable growth and development.
Ricoh explained that this share acquisition is a part of the growth investments outlined in the medium- to long-term plan through FY2025 and is intended to achieve digital transformation (DX) for customers by acquiring edge devices that support digital service offerings and strengthening IT management service capabilities. It is also intended to expand Ricoh’s Office Services business, which is positioned as an area of accelerated growth in its business portfolio management.
In addition, by fortifying its human capital through acquiring software engineers and digital professionals in the field, close to its customers and edge devices, Ricoh will further strengthen its management structure to become a digital services company, the company added.
Through this share acquisition, Ricoh said it intends to achieve an expansion of Ricoh’s unique Digital Services to support customers’ document workflow innovation. Ricoh aims to expand its recurring revenue business by offering a combination of distinctive edge devices,
business applications, and cloud platforms that enable the handling of special documents that are difficult to handle with existing MFPs (Multifunction Printers). This includes documents such as “unequal sized slips and forms,” “non-carbon paper application forms,” and “driver’s licenses and ID cards,” which are generated in accounting, application, and teller window operations. Ricoh will expand its business by enhancing business scanners in offices and areas where more advanced and continuous document volumes are expected, such as teller window operations at medical and public institutions and document processing operations in financial institutions and corporation back offices.
Ricoh said it will also introduce PFU’s existing users to new services by integrating Ricoh’s AI-OCR solution and CSP (Contents Service Platform), represented by Ricoh’s DocuWare business, to realise digitalisation that matches the workflow of each industry and business. Ricoh will create new services with higher added value using accumulated data by increasing the amount of digital data flowing into RICOH Smart Integration.
Ricoh added that it will strengthen its ability to support customers’ IT environments by expanding the number of professionals who support digital services, thereby helping to ensure smooth business operations. In particular, by combining PFU’s strengths in building and operating multi-cloud environments, IT management services such as security services, and IoT (Internet of Things) equipment operation services with the nationwide support and services provided by Ricoh Japan, a Group domestic sales company, Ricoh will further expand its Office Services business in Japan.
As a result of this share acquisition, PFU will become a consolidated subsidiary of Ricoh. The impact on Ricoh’s business performance for the fiscal year ending March 2023 is currently under scrutiny.
