Consortium of Chinese companies including cartridge maker buys Lexmark

A consortium of three Chinese companies buys American printer maker Lexmark. Among the buyers is Apex, a Chinese cartridge maker. The companies are putting 3.6 billion dollars on the table for Lexmark, currently about 3.2 billion euros.

In addition to Apex, two Chinese investment firms are involved in the acquisition, including Legend Capital, a company associated with hardware maker Lenovo. Lexmark will focus more on the Asian print services market after the acquisition, the company says. The printer company decided to sell after six months of rethinking its strategy. It has been openly on display since October, after the company has slowed down in recent years.

For now, the acquisition would not affect Lexmark’s customers. The headquarters will remain in the city of Lexington in the US state of Kentucky for the time being. The printer company has more than 10,000 employees and has been around since 1991, when Lexmark split from IBM.

An old-fashioned Lexmark printer