The two firms unveiled plans for a potential alliance three months ago.

On 17 July, they confirmed that a shareholders’ agreement had been signed for the as-yet-unnamed company.

The business has a capital of Pound 246,144, with Fujifilm BI having a majority stake of 75%, and KM the remainder.

The initial focus will be on three areas: the procurement of raw materials and parts; an alliance covering toner development and production; and “other business alliances” covering strategic collaborations that will be addressed separately.

The expected date of establishment is 30 September.

“Through the newly established joint venture, Fujifilm Business Innovation and Konica Minolta will leverage their extensive supplier networks to strengthen their business foundations by establishing a robust supply system for their products and streamlining their business processes,” the duo stated.

At Fujifilm Holding’s medium-term management briefing held in April, Fujifilm Business Innovation CEO Naoki Hama was asked about the JV pans and said: “The business alliance discussions were based on the idea that in addition to what we could do on our own, we wanted to do something that would further strengthen our business foundation through a new business alliance. We want to do things that will benefit both parties if we partner with them and that will produce results as soon as possible. With that in mind, I thought that a partnership in procurement and toner production would probably be the most effective way to start.”

He said that toner production was a key topic, and Fujifilm had been thinking about how to increase capacity at its two toner manufacturing locations in Japan.

“Konica Minolta has production facilities in Kofu and Tatsuno and has excess capacity. There is the most benefit from a capital investment standpoint when both parties are able to manufacture products at both sites,” he stated.

Hama also noted the JV plans had no impact on Fujifilm’s relationship with Xerox. “We intend to build a good relationship with Xerox and continue our business in a solid partnership.”

Fujifilm supplied more than USD 1-bn worth of products to the US group last year.

(Source: PrintWeek.com)