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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 cam-
era, 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.
will remain as a
separate legal entity
Canon has stated their intention
to preserve the excellent employee
relations and unique culture that
exist at Axis. Following comple-
tion of the offer, Axis' current
management team will remain
in place and Axis' headquarters,
development centres and sales of-
fices will stay where they are today.
The strong Axis brand name will
be maintained and applied in all
relevant markets. Furthermore,
Axis will continue to remain as
a separate legal entity within the
Canon Group. Axis will opera-
tionally and financially report to
Canon's CEO.
latest in a number of major changes
to the structure of the supply chain
for video surveillance equipment.
It comes just two months after
Samsung Group sold Samsung
Techwin. Today, the supply chain
remains highly fragmented. The
top fifteen suppliers account for less
than 50% of revenues and there are
thousands of small suppliers.
More acquisition
to expect in 2015
Cropley concludes with a com-
ment to watch this space for the
future. "Consolidation has been
anticipated for some time and
Canon's purchase of Axis could be
just the start of a series of industry
acquisitions in 2015."
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 analogue to digital technol-
ogy, making Axis market leaders.
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
Intense competition
IHS estimates that Axis Com-
munications was the third largest
supplier of video surveillance
equipment in 2014 with over
5% of a global market worth
around $15 billion. Despite this,
the company has faced intense
competition, particularly from
Chinese rivals in recent years."
The largest of these, Hikvision
and Dahua, have both been
gaining market share faster than
Axis. At the same time, the
average selling price of a network
camera has more than halved
between 2010 and 2014."
Still a fragmented market
Canon's acquisition of Axis is the
Acceptance by
the largest shareholders
Each of Axis' three largest share-
holders, which together hold
approximately 39.5 per cent of
shares and votes, have undertaken
to accept the offer and transfer
their respective shares to Canon
subject to certain conditions.
The reason why we look so
positively on the offer is that we
have obtained clear commitments
from Canon that we will continue
working with the same organisa-
tion and business model and in
the same way as we have done so
far, says Martin Gren, co-founder
of Axis and one of the three largest
shareholders.
Simultaneously, we will
have access to Canon's technolo-
gy and production resources, he
continues.
The pioneer
of network cameras
The development of Axis has been
less possibilities for growth".
Then in June 2014, Canon ac-
quired the world's largest supplier
of video management software,
Milestone Systems. Now, Canon
is purchasing the world's largest
supplier of network cameras. All
of this shows just how seriously
Canon is about expanding its
interests in the video surveillance
equipment market."
The board of directors of Axis has,
based on a financial short and
mid-term perspective, concluded
to unanimously recommend that
the shareholders of Axis accept the
public offer made by Canon.
The total value of the offer
represents a premium of approxi-
mately 49.8 per cent compared to
the closing price of SEK 226.9 for
the Axis share on Nasdaq Stock-
holm on 9 February 2015, which
was the last trading day prior to
the announcement of the offer;
The acceptance period of the
offer is expected to commence on
3 March 2015 and is expected to
expire on 1 April 2015.
The offer is conditional upon,
inter alia, being accepted to such
an extent that Canon becomes the
owner of more than 90 per cent
of the shares in Axis. Canon has
reserved the right to waive this
and other completion conditions
according to the offer. The offer is
not conditional upon financing.
Cropley affirms that this is a
massive development in the
video surveillance equipment
market. "Until last year, Canon
was a small player in this market.
However, back in August 2013,
it revealed big ambitions when its
CEO, Fujio Mitari, spoke about
security cameras becoming an
"important pillar" for the compa-
ny and the market having "limit-
Canon Inc. has offered the shareholders of Axis to
transfer all of their shares in Axis to Canon for a
consideration of SeK 340 in cash per share in the com-
pany. The total value of the offer is approxima tely
SeK 23.6 billion (USd 2.8 billion).
Following the announcement that Canon has made
a public offer to acquire Axis Communications, Jon
Cropley, Principal Analyst for Video Surveillance
Equipment at IHS Inc., suggests that this move may
just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of forthcoming
developments within the video surveillance equip-
ment market.
Canon to buy Axis for $2.8 Billion
Lund, Sweden
Canon and Axis the start of
a series of acquisitions in 2015
Martin Gren, co-founder of Axis and
one of the three largest shareholders.