By David Savastano
 
There are frequent talks between companies to explore potential mergers, and most times, not much comes of it. Rarely do these talks reach the point when media sources report on preliminary discussions. 
 
However, Bloomberg News’ report on July 11 that Xerox and R.R. Donnelley are having discussions about Xerox acquiring the printing industry leader certainly got the attention of the business community and the printing industry.
 
The article, Xerox in Talks to Merge Copier Business with R.R. Donnelley, cited sources who said that Xerox would merge pieces of R.R. Donnelley into its two distinct divisions. 
 
There are plenty of moving parts here, as both companies have previously announced their own splits. Xerox is breaking up into two companies: Xerox, its copier, printer and related-services business, and Conduent Inc., its business process outsourcing business. Bloomberg estimates the sales of each of the businesses at $11 billion and $7 billion, respectively, with a total market value of approximately $9.6 billion.
 
R.R. Donnelley is planning on breaking up into three companies: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, LSC Communications and Donnelley Financial Solutions. R.R. Donnelley had more that $11 billion in sales last year, with a market value of less than $4 billion.
 
Neither company would comment on the Bloomberg story.
 
What does this mean? Combining the world’s largest printer with a major printing press/copier manufacturer is a starting point, although Xerox’s copiers don’t necessarily fit into what R.R. Donnelley produces on web. In fact, Xerox taking ownership of R.R. Donnelley could impact dealings with other printers. Xerox could, of course, subsequently spin off some of R.R. Donnelley’s operations.
 
On the printed electronics side, both companies have been developing technologies for these markets. Xerox Printed Memory, licensed from Thin Film Electronics, allows brand owners to add brand protection information, such as serial numbers, lot codes and expiration dates, to the labels. Xerox prints thin circuitry onto a flexible substrate on one of its production lines in Webster, NY. 
 
Meanwhile, R.R. Donnelley has been showing products made using thin flexible printed circuits and its CustomWave RFID Solutions for labels, signage and packaging, and has reportedly been developing products for these markets since 2010. This is a market where the combination would make sense.
 
If there is fire where there is smoke, we will know soon enough. Donnelley’s three-way split and Xerox’s own two-way breakup are expected to be completed by the end of the year. I would guess that those plans would be put off if a deal is likely.