XRX - Xerox to buy back remaining stake owned by Carl Icahn for $542M

2023-09-28 10:44:03 ET

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has sold his remaining $542M stake in Xerox ( NASDAQ: XRX ) back to the company, the U.S. printer maker said on Thursday, marking an end to what has been a a tumultuous relationship.

XRX stock was down 1.1% to $15.42 in morning trade.

Xerox ( XRX ) said it would buy back all of its shares owned by Icahn and certain of his affiliates at the stock's last closing price of $15.84/share. Post closing, Icahn and his affiliates will no longer hold an XRX common shares.

XRX expects to fund the aggregate purchase price of $542M with a new debt facility.

"For nearly a decade, Carl and his affiliates have served as important shareholders to Xerox, providing invaluable counsel, guidance and activism to support our evolution as a workplace technology leader," XRX top boss Steve Bandrowczak said in a statement .

Concurrent with the closing of the repurchase, Icahn employees Jesse Lynn and Steven Miller, along with independent director James Nelson, will resign from the Xerox ( XRX ) board.

Back in 2018, Icahn, along with another investor in hedge fund manager Darwin Deason, had vigorously opposed XRX's complex $6.1B planned deal with Japan's Fujifilm ( OTCPK:FUJIY ) ( OTCPK:FUJIF ), which XRX eventually abandoned. Later, in 2020, XRX launched a hostile $35B takeover bid for HP ( HPQ ) with the support of Icahn, who at that time also held a stake in HPQ. XRX gave up on that deal due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I helped Xerox maintain its independence while pursuing consolidation within the print industry," Icahn said in Thursday's statement.

XRX said the deal was negotiated and unanimously recommended to its board by a special committee comprised solely of independent and disinterested directors.

The deal is expected to close no later than Friday.

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