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US: Judge blocks Fuji-Xerox deal temporarily

By  |  April 29, 2018

Fujifilm Holdings merger with US firm Xerox was temporarily blocked on Friday, April 27, following a court ruling, handing its activist investors a win after they sued to stop the deal, reported Bloomberg.

The ruling reopened nominations to Xerox’s board on Friday after investor Darwin Deason filed a lawsuit against the company last month opposing the deal and asking to add his own nominees to the board.

Judge Barry Ostrager said in his order Friday that Xerox’s existing joint venture with Fujifilm would have made it difficult but not impossible to pursue another deal that would have required a buyer to provide a cash payment to Xerox investors.

The facts “clearly show that Jacobson, having been told on November 10 that the board was actively seeking a new CEO to replace him, was hopelessly conflicted during his negotiations of a strategic acquisition transaction that would result in a combined entity of which he would be CEO,” Ostrager said. “There is ample evidence that he collaborated with Fuji to make himself indispensable to the transaction.”

Full Content: Bloomberg

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