Printer maker Xerox to split into two

[NEW YORK] Xerox Corp said it would split into two companies, one holding its legacy hardware operations and the other its business process outsourcing unit.

The printer and copier maker will give billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who holds an 8.13 per cent stake, three seats on the board of the business process outsourcing company.

Xerox, whose shares had fallen more than 30 per cent in the past 12 months, has been trying to turn itself around, shifting focus to software and services as corporates cost cuts and a switch to mobile devices hit demand for printers.

Larger rival Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co also split its computer and printer businesses from its faster-growing corporate hardware and services operations last year to adjust to the post-PC computing era.

REUTERS