I wonder if this merger will have the same negative results of some of the previous mergers? Unisys, HP and many defunct others.
Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Johnston" > Thought this news item today was of general interest: > > >Dow Jones Business News > >Konica, Minolta Confirm In Talks Over Operations Merger > >Monday January 6, 7:44 pm ET > > > >TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Konica Corp. (J.KNC or 4902) and Minolta Corp. (J.MNO or > >7753) are in talks aimed at an integration of their operations, spokesmen at > >both companies confirmed Tuesday. Local media reported that the two Japanese > >office equipment and camera makers will merge under a holding company this > >summer in a bid to ride out stiff competition with rivals such as Canon Inc. > >( CANNY or 7751). The spokesmen said specific details, such as when and how > >to merge operations, have yet to be decided. The Tokyo Stock Exchange > >suspended trading in both Konica and Minolta shares until 0116 GMT. Konica > >plans to transform into a holding company structure April 1. The media > >reports said Minolta will join that structure around summer. Konica and > >Minolta already have a tie in the area of research and development of > >copiers, formed April 2000. In the precision machinery industry covering > >digital camera and office automation equipment, competition is expected to > >intensify globally. But the combined sales of Konica and Minolta lag well > >behind those of rivals such as Canon and Ricoh Co. (J.RCH or 7752). Should > >the operation merger go through, annual sales at the new entity would likely > >slightly exceed Y1 trillion, compared with industry leader Canon's sales of > >nearly Y3 trillion for the business year ended December 2001. For the > >business year ended March 2002, Konica posted group sales of Y539.57 > >billion, while Minolta recorded sales of Y510.86 billion. -Tokyo Bureau, Dow > >Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929 > > > > > > > > Dow Jones Newswires > > 01-06-03 1944ET >
