Xerox Re-Re-Re-Reverses It’s Latest Management Decision Old Management Replaced by New Team

An American Printer Commentary
By Andy & Julie Plata
Co-CEOs, the OutputLinks Communications Group
 

Remember the January Fujifilm announcement that they would be acquiring Xerox in a $0, stock swap, to merge it with their Fuji Xerox company, in which Xerox held a 25% ownership position? Well, the following are a result of the shareholder and court actions that were initiated to stop that disputed transaction. 

Board Reversals Timeline:

• Board Decision
  • December 17 – Was date set by the Board to replace CEO Jeff Jacobson
  • John Visentin to be the new CEO and Jeff Jacobson will be out
• Reversal 1
  • Board reverses December 17 decision
  • After Jacobson develops a $0 merger plan with Fujifilm and Fuji Xerox
  • Jeff Jacobson remains as CEO, and John Visentin is out
• Reversal 2
  • May 1 – Board re-reverses Jacobson decision
  • Announces that Xerox’s CEO, Chairman, and five board members will resign and be replaced
  • John Visentin to be the new CEO and Jeff Jacobson is out

• Reversal 3
  • May 3 – Board re-re-reverses its May 1 decision
  • Xerox’s CEO, Chairman, and five board members will remain
  • Jeff Jacobson remains as CEO, and John Visentin is out
• Reversal 4
  • May 13 – Board re-re-re-reverses its May 3 decision
  • Announces that Xerox’s CEO, Chairman, and five board members will resign, and a new management team will be installed
  • John Visentin to be the new CEO and Jeff Jacobson is again out

To read Sunday’s message from the Xerox Board about the resignations and new management Click Here>>>

Next Steps

• The proposed merger with Fujifilm is now canceled
• The new management team will immediately begin investigating how to bring more business and market value to Xerox

In yesterday’s (May 14) free flowing BBC Markets video interview, Darwin Deason shared his views for bringing immediate value to Xerox shareholders via an auction to identify a qualified, prospective buyer with an offer superior to Fujifilm’s $0, stock swap. Notice that he does mention trying to find value for Xerox’s clients, employees, dealers, and partners.

See the interview here >>>

Remaining Questions

• How much will shareholders be paying:
  • For separation packages to Jeff Jacobson and the resigned Board members
• What protections from legal actions related to their activities leading to the Fujifilm $0 sale transaction. were promised to the resigning management team
• How much damage did the Boards’ multiple decision reversals:
  • Harm Xerox’s stock value
  • Harm Xerox’s product sales
• Who is John Visentin and how can he help Xerox’s clients, employees, suppliers, and shareholders prosper

In Closing

Over the coming weeks, we will be continuing our Commentary on the Remaining Questions above. We will also be keeping close tabs on any new actions related to the attempted merger by Fujifilm or the new Xerox Board (and we are sure there will be a few or even more).

Thanks for reading. Your thoughts on this topic are appreciated.

Promoting print tech for the digital age,
Andy & Julie Plata
Co-CEOs, American Printer and the OutputLinks Communications Group

Stay tuned for discussions on how these surprising changes will affect Xerox's clients, employees, dealers, partners, and stockholders as well as Fujifilm and Fuji Xerox. And, let's not overlook the new Xerox's impact on the entire print and document industry.