Siemens Offloads Stake In JV With Fujitsu Computers

November 5, 2008 by Sanjay

Fujitsu-Siemens Computers

Maarssen, Netherlands-based Fujitsu-Siemens Computers (FSC) is becoming a wholly Fujitsu-owned subsidiary.

Founded on October 1, 1999, the company was a joint venture between Munch-based Siemens AG and Tokyo-based Fujitsu Ltd, with both holding 50% shares. In a span of 9 years, the company had positioned itself as a leading European IT infrastructure provider with a strong focus on next-gen mobility and dynamic data center products, services and solutions. FSC has manufacturing and developing facilities in four cities in Germany and one at Sunnyvale, California, USA. With 10,500 employees across 36 countries, of which 6,000 are employed in its German facilities alone, the company had clocked a gross revenue of Euro 6.6 billion and PBT of Euro 105 million in the year ending 31 March 2007.

According to reports, for Siemens the divestment will mean cash inflow of between Euro 400 to 500 million, which it intends to plough back in its core businesses of energy, industry and healthcare. The latest offloading of stake is part of Siemens’ overall strategy to cut costs and focus more on its strengths, in the face of the ongoing global economic meltdown. The final decision apparently was taken after reviewing the lower-than-expected performance of the company in the past few years.

While competitors such as China’s Lenovo, Dell and HP had indicated interest in buying Siemens’ stake, Fujitsu has agreed to buy back the shares, though the acquisition will cost it higher than what it pays to Siemens, because of the inbuilt employee pension obligations.