The $450 million merger of Ricoh and local subsidiary Lanier will have a new boss, Lanier managing director, John Hall. In a shock turnaround, former Ricoh managing director, Les Richardson, will leave the business after nearly six years in the top job. Richardson was widely tipped to remain in the top spot with Hall predicted to be the one to drop out.
The announcement has stunned the sector although so far there has been no comment on the reasons behind the sudden change in plans.
Ricoh and Lanier are forecast to complete their merger by early June, bringing both companies under the Ricoh brand. Although Ricoh owned both businesses, Lanier operated as a subsidiary directed out of Singapore and was arguably more successful in the production printing space than it's parent. The decision to combine the local operations is part of a continuing push to sharpen the business processing focus of the company. Hall will head up the combined business, bringing more than a decade of printing industry experience to the role. As Lanier’s managing director since it was acquired as a subsidiary by Ricoh in 2001 he has been closely involved with the two company’s increased engagement not only in production printing but in the IT sector and document management services.
Following completion of the integration, the Lanier brand will disappear, effectively boosting the install footprint for Ricoh, except in distribution channels in certain regional markets.