FUJIY Acquires Aussie BPO
FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation (FUJIY) recently announced acquisition of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) division of Salmat Limited, the largest business service provider in Australia. The company had to shell out AU$375 million to take over the BPO division from Salmat. The acquisition covers all the shares of Salmat Document Management Solutions Pty. Limited (:SDMS). Consequently, Fujifilm will get hold of Salmat's wholly-owned subsidiary, SDMS's Asian business unit, SDMS's 11 subsidiaries as well as Salmat Asia Limited (SAL).
Subsequent to the closure of this acquisition, Fujifilm Holdings now plans to promote its business shift from the hardware-centric multifunction devices and printers business to solutions and services business, boosted by SDMS's technical expertise. The company eyes higher sales performance, brand strength and enhanced customer base, while expanding its business solutions and services in China and other Asian markets.
Fujifilm’s partnership with Salmat is believed to disseminate SDMS's knowledge and experiences in customer data handling with the filmmaker’s consistency of workflow from printing to post-print processing, Fujifilm Group will accelerate the expansion of solutions and services business leveraging its document outsourcing business. Fujifilm’s powerful marketing strategy coupled with Salmat’s advanced IT data management capacity is anticipated to streamline operations with higher efficiency, automation and cost reduction.
Last month, Fujifilm reported a net income of ¥2.5 billion ($31.2 million) in first-quarter 2013 (ended June 30, 2012), down 82.7% year over year. The company witnessed a sluggish European demand alongside yen appreciation against euro, which affected the performance.
The company operates in a highly competitive industry wherein traditional and digital imaging products face fierce rivalry from competitors, such as Canon Inc. (CAJ).
Currently, we are maintaining a long-term ‘Neutral’ recommendation on FUJIY. Also, the company has a Zacks #4 Rank, implying a short-term (1-3 months) ‘Sell’ rating.
Read the Full Research Report on FUJIY
Read the Full Research Report on CAJ
More From Zacks.com
