Photocopier giant Xerox has announced it is to acquire business process outsourcing firm Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) in a cash and share deal valued at US$6.4bn.
The deal will transform Xerox into the leading global enterprise for document and business process management, the company said.
“By combining Xerox’s strengths in document technology with ACS’s expertise in managing and automating work processes, we’re creating a new class of solution provider,” said Xerox CEO Ursula M Burns. “A game-changer for Xerox, acquiring ACS helps us expand our business and benefit from stronger revenue and earnings growth.”
Burns said that through the deal Xerox would become a US$22bn global company. “The revenue we generate from services will triple from US$3.5bn in 2008 to an estimated US$10bn next year,” she added.
Xerox also said it would take on ACS’s debt of US$2bn under the deal.
“We know that for ACS to expand globally and differentiate our offerings through technology, we need a partner with tremendous brand strength and leading innovation. Xerox offers that and more to bring our business to the next level while strengthening theirs,” said ACS president and CEO Lynn Blodgett, who will remain at the helm of ACS under Xerox.
The transaction, which has already been approved by both Xerox and ACS’s boards of directors, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.
ACS is headquartered in Dallas, Tex, and employs 74,000 people. It offers business process outsourcing support in areas that include finance, human resources, information technology, transaction processing and customer care.
Article courtesy of businessandleadership.com
Photo: Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and ACS president and CEO Lynn Blodgett discuss Xerox’s US$6.4bn acquisition of ACS.
