Canon Inc. has made a 23.6 billion-krona or $2.8 billion cash bid to acquire Sweden based Axis Communications AB, a global video surveillance products and solution provider. This move is largely seen as a bid to expand its horizon towards offering surveillance products at global level.
According to a statement issued by Axis, the Board of Directors has engaged Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc as financial advisor and Gernandt & Danielsson Advokatbyrå KB as legal advisor in relation to the evaluation of the Offer. Deloitte AB (“Deloitte”) has, by instruction from the Board of Directors, provided a valuation report (a so called fairness opinion).
The underlying market for the company’s current core offering, network video products, is continuously increasing in a rate which external market research institutions estimate to 16 and 22 per cent, respectively. The Company’s position in the field of surveillance cameras is excellent and there are several geographical areas and adjacent product lines with significant growth potential, benefitting from the strong global brand name.
During the last year, the Company has, for example, extended its product range by introducing a solution for network based access control systems, which has been received very positive by the Company’s existing customers and partners.
The Board of Directors’ recommendation
The development of Axis has been very positive since the Company became the first company in the world to introduce a network camera. The introduction marked the beginning of the shift in the overall video surveillance market from analog to digital technology, making Axis market leading. Axis has over the years developed its position within the fields of network cameras and surveillance cameras and hence built one of the strongest trademarks in the overall video surveillance market.
The success of the Company is today built on three main factors: a global scope, a strong and wide partner network and innovative technical solutions.
Since the launch of the first network camera, the number of employees has increased to today’s approximately 1,900 employees, spread among 49 countries. The growth has been almost exclusively organic. Axis’ products reach the global market by way of 70 distributors and a fine-meshed network of close to 75,000 partners in 179 countries.
