HP picks up Samsung's printing business for £790m

HP Inc., the consumer-oriented half of what was once known as Hewlett Packard, has announced that it has acquired the printer business of Samsung Electronics in a deal valued at $1.05 billion (around £790 million).

While HP has long been a leading name in printing, it has thus far failed to capture one important arm of the market: photocopying, an industry valued at £41.3 billion annually. Samsung, on the other hand, has enjoyed considerable success with a range of large-format multi-function printers (MFPs), and it's these - plus a 6,500-strong portolio of related patents - that forms the central target of HP's acquisition.

'When we became a separate company just 10 months ago, it enabled us to become nimble and focus on accelerating growth and reinventing industries,' claimed Dion Weisler, president and CEO of HP, which was split from its business-oriented counterpart HP Enterprise. 'We are doing this with 3D printing and the disruption of the $12 trillion traditional manufacturing industry, and now we are going after the $55 billion copier space. The acquisition of Samsung's printer business allows us to deliver print innovation and create entirely new business opportunities with far better efficiency, security, and economics for customers.'

The deal will see Samsung's printer and copier workforce, including 1,300 staff in the research and engineering divisions, transferred to HP. Thus far, the company has not confirmed nor denied plans for layoffs once the acquisition is completed.