HP Inc. just got a lot bigger. The personal computer and printing giant said Monday that it will buy Samsung’s printing business for $1.05 billion. HP will inherit 6,000 Samsung employees once the deal closes, which HP expects will be within 12 months, said HP president of imaging and printing Enrique Lores. Of those 6,000 employees, nearly 2,000 are research and development engineers, 1,000 are sales and support staff, and the rest work in service and manufacturing, Lores said.
With the acquisition, HP gets a big printing presence in Asia, as well as Samsung’s laser printing technology and around 6,500 printing technology patents. Samsung’s laser printing technology will be crucial for HP HPQ 3.90% as it attempts to enter the copier machine market, which requires machines that can quickly print multiple copies, explained Tuan Tran, HP global general manager of office printing.
“Korea is going to be a very important site for the HP printing business going forward,” said Lores.
