Chinese consortium reaches deal to buy Lexmark

Printing and software company Lexmark agreed Wednesday to be sold to a consortium led by Apex Technology of China and PAG Asia Capital, a private equity firm, for $3.6 billion, including debt.

Lexmark had been looking into strategic alternatives for a while. The consortium buying it, which also includes Legend Capital Management, a venture capital firm, will pay $40.50 a share in an all-cash transaction.

Lexmark has operations at 8900 Renner Road in Lenexa. The operation, formerly known as Perceptive Software, is now called Lexmark Enterprise Software and has about 500 employees.

Lexmark said the deal represented a 30 percent premium to its closing price Oct. 21, when it became known that the company was looking into its options. It also said the deal would allow it to expand in Asia.

“With the consortium’s resources, we will be able to continue to invest in and grow the business to more fully penetrate the Asia Pacific market for hardware, software and managed print services,” Paul Rooke, Lexmark’s chairman and chief executive, said in a news release.

Jackson Wang, the chairman of Apex, added that the two businesses are likely to be complementary, as Apex manufactures parts for ink cartridges.

“Apex has traditionally been successful in emerging markets and in cost-effective production,” Wang said in a news release. “We are excited to work alongside Lexmark as they continue to invest in advanced technologies and solutions to best serve their customers and business partners while simultaneously pursuing untapped opportunities in emerging markets, particularly in Asia, for future growth.”

Lexmark said that it intended to keep its company headquarters in Lexington, Ky., and that Rooke would remain in his current role.

The deal continues a stream of prolific dealmaking among Chinese companies, including the sale of technology distributor Ingram Micro for $6 billion to Tianjin Tianhai, a Chinese shipping group. Some deals, like the attempts to buy Fairchild Semiconductor and Starwood Hotels, have fallen apart, but China has still been racking up acquisitions.

Lexmark’s board has approved the transaction, but it is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval from agencies including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2016.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 10:07 AM with the headline "Chinese consortium reaches deal to buy Lexmark."