Canon’s $1 billion takeover of Oce, its largest ever purchase, was held up after the company failed to gain outstanding shares. Tokyo-based Canon finally acquired the remaining 10 percent stake from Orbis Funds at the end of last year, said Rokus van Iperen.
“We had a delay of two years in terms of integration,” he said today in a telephone interview. Canon today named Van Iperen as new chief executive officer for its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, taking over from Ryoichi Bamba, who is retiring. Van Iperen is the the first non-Japanese executive to lead Canon’s business in Europe.
Europe’s debt crisis and a stronger yen, which cuts the repatriated value of overseas earnings for Japanese exporters, has dampened Canon’s outlook. The company will maintain Oce’s manufacturing base in the Netherlands, as it seeks to move more factories outside Japan. The strategy serves as a “natural hedge to compensate for currency fluctuations,” van Iperen said.
