Brother Industries of Japan has offered roughly £1.03 billion in cash for Domino Printing, based near Cambridge, UK. The offer from Brother, roughly 915p per share, was already over the share price, which closed on Tuesday at 721p. However, Domino’s share price rose further in response, closing on Wednesday at 941p prompting speculation that a rival bid might appear.
Domino was founded in 1978 and has built its reputation as a coding and marking company but has also moved into narrow format label production with several inkjet systems and has just launched a monochrome printer, the K630i, that’s suitable for applications ranging from transactional to book printing. The acquisition would provide Domino with the funding to continue this expansion further.
Brother is over 100 years old having started off building sewing machines but now builds a range of industrial systems as well as its own inkjet printers.
The deal is still subject to shareholder agreement though it’s been recommended by Domino’s board. Peter Byrom, chairman of Domino, called the offer “compelling and timely”, adding: “The enlarged group will be able to invest in the future to consolidate and capitalise on Domino’s current significant position and to serve better our customers, whilst creating exciting career opportunities for employees.”
Brother has already said that it will operate Domino as a standalone division with the current management in place.
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