Xerox Sells Outsourcing Business For £670m

Xerox Corp has agreed to hand over its outsourcing division to French IT services company Atos SE for £670m.

The news sent shares up four percent in late trading Thursday night, with the move set to allow Xerox to concentrate on its faster growing divisions such as its document outsourcing arm, said Xerox services president Robert Zapfel.

Xerox said in statement: “Xerox’s ITO business includes about 9,800 employees in 45 countries.”

Earnings boost

Xerox took up the outsourcing arm in 2009 following the acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services. Atos predicts that the deal will close in Q2 2015 and boost earnings per share by 10 percent.

Atos said it would nearly triple its size in the US which would represent its largest operating geography, and become one of Xerox’s primary IT services providers.

“Atos is a company with whom we’ve had a long relationship in several capacities,” said Ursula Burns, Xerox’s chairman and CEO. “Selling the ITO business to Atos gives our clients around the globe an expanded, world-class suite of IT capabilities that complement Xerox’s industry leading BPO and document outsourcing solutions.

“This transaction is another step in our ongoing portfolio management strategy and increases our focus on those areas where we can deliver the most value and expertise to our clients.”

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