Earlier this week, Ricoh Company, parent of Ricoh USA, announced it has forged a deal with Fujitsu Limited to acquire an 80% stake in the latter’s PFU Limited scanner business for ¥80 billion (approximately US$625 million). PFU will become a subsidiary of Ricoh.
This share acquisition is a part of the growth investments outlined in Ricoh’s 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.
To become a digital services company that connects workplaces and supports workers’ creativity, Ricoh automates processes by digitalizing analog data—such as documents, audio, and images—with edge devices and provides optimal combinations of applications and packages for each customer’s industry and operations. Furthermore, Ricoh aims to improve customers’ convenience by evolving RICOH Smart Integration, a cloud platform that integrates edge devices and applications, into a business innovation platform that transforms customers’ end-to-end business workflows and contributes to their DX by analyzing and utilizing accumulated digital data to advance and automate their future operations.
PFU is the global leader in document scanners, which have been the entry points for the accelerating digitalization of paper documents in recent years, and in the customer base. Its mainstream document imaging business possesses hardware/software-related technologies and expertise in resolving business issues that are used in a wide variety of industries and business sites. In the infrastructure customer service business, PFU is strong in multi-vendor support in information and communication technology, where it possesses two strengths. First, in construction and operation services for multi-cloud environments, which are expected to grow in the future, and second, in managed security services through its security operation center, providing one of the most advanced technology and support capabilities in Japan. Furthermore, in the computer products business for industrial equipment manufacturers, PFU has the No. 1 share in the Japanese market for industrial computer boards and boasts an extensive product lineup.
Through this share acquisition, Ricoh intends to achieve the following:
Expand 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. 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 will also introduce PFU’s existing users to new services by integrating Ricoh’s AI-OCR solution and contents service platform, represented by Ricoh’s DocuWare business, to realize digitalization 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.
Strengthen IT management service functions in Japan
Ricoh 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 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.
Generate stable earnings through synergies in the industrial computer business
The combination of PFU’s computer products business and Ricoh’s electronics business will create synergies in production, purchasing, and development to increase cost competitiveness and develop new edge devices that will advance the digitalization of frontlines. Ricoh and PFU will leverage their products, services, technologies, and know-how, plus their customer bases, to accelerate frontlines’ DX in various industries. Ricoh will revolutionize customers’ work by improving operational efficiency and productivity. In the coming years, Ricoh and the Fujitsu Group will seek to establish an alliance relationship that complements and strengthens their areas of expertise to realize their respective goals of becoming a digital services company and a DX company.
