HP buys Samsung printer division for $1bn

HP Inc. has closed the deal to take over from Samsung the division that manufactures printers for $ 1.05 billion. The transaction is expected to be finalized within 12 months and under the terms of the agreement, Samsung has agreed to buy the HP Inc. shares in an amount of between 100 and 300 million dollars once the acquisition will be completed. 

With the transaction, HP Inc. will get from Samsung also more than 6,500 patents and aims to become a leader in the printer market, focusing on the key area of laser printing technology. A move that is part of a larger company in Palo Alto repositioning plan that is looking for new channels of development after smartphones, tablets and other digital appliances have replaced the traditional printing systems. Last quarter, the turnover of the division of HP printers has been reduced by 14% to 4.42 billion dollars, while total sales were down 4% to $ 11.9 billion.

For HP Inc. it is the biggest takeover since last year was spun off from Hewlett Packard Enterprise to focus on personal computers and hardware. "This is a major strategic move for HP," said the president of the Imaging Division, Printing & Solutions Hp, Enrique Lores, adding that "the separation of the activities is really working."

Mark Newman, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein told Bloomberg that: 'The sale of printers makes perfect sense, because the world is going down the paper. The printers do not have much future. Samsung is the largest manufacturer in the world view, has to focus in other areas. "