Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH (KMBS) and Konica Minolta Printing Solutions Europe BV (KMPS) have started discussions with both Works Councils about the intended integration of the organisations.
KMPS has presented yesterday a request for advice to the Works Council. The final decision of the integration is subject to consultation between KMPS management and KMPS's Works Council regarding restructuring and social matters.
The intentions of KMBS/KMPS managements for this integration are:
1. In order to build the strong brand image and awareness in the market as well as to make Konica Minolta as the firm and strong MFP/printer supplier to continuously grow. Unify our strategy and marketing activities between KMBS and KMPS under one umbrella (one face and common strategy) and unify the local sales organisations and activities to make the sales channels stronger.
2. Legally KMPS shall be merged into KMBS by asset deal and become KMBS's NL branch intended as of 29 June 2007. Some of the common functions of both headquarters shall be basically integrated and optimised to be more efficient and effective from the customer satisfaction point of view.
3. Subsidiaries of KMPS shall be merged into each subsidiary of KMBS in relevant countries respectively during July - October 2007.
Hideki Okamura, President of Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH (KMBS), said: "More and more the border of MFP and printer/AIO industries are crossing over each other and mega-competition in this industry is heating up. Considering the current market environment, I believe that both operations in Europe should act as one company under the unified deployment and business strategy."
Kanji Wada, Managing Director of Konica Minolta Printing Solutions Europe BV (KMPS), said: "I do believe that combined with the planned expansion of the product portfolio, the merger will provide us with an excellent opportunity of substantially growing printer/AIO business and its market presence to truly become one of the leading printer vendors in Europe. We will be also able to manage and optimise our sales channels from both MFP and printer point of view, and create better channel satisfaction as well as customer satisfaction as a consequence."
Hideki Okamura
President
Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH
Langenhagen, Germany
Kanji Wada
Managing Director
Konica Minolta Printing Solutions Europe BV
Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
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