Xerox, hit by digital revolution, cedes control to Fujifilm

Xerox, an icon of corporate America that pioneered the office copy machine as well as the graphic interface and mouse used with today’s computers, only to be blindsided by the digital revolution, is coming under Japanese control.

The company said Wednesday that it would combine its operations with its joint venture with Fujifilm Holdings of Japan. Fujifilm would own just over 50 percent of the business, which would aim to cut $1.7 billion in costs in coming years. Separately, Fujifilm said Wednesday that it would cut about 10,000 jobs internationally because of “increasingly severe” market conditions.

The deal would bring to an end Xerox’s 115 years as an independent company. Its copy machines were once so popular that the word “Xerox” became a ubiquitous verb for making copies, whether on one of its machines or on those of its rivals.

But in recent decades, it grappled with the rise of email and the move by offices around the world to send and share documents electronically. Activist shareholders such as Carl Icahn had pushed the company to get new board members and to shake up its business.

Under the deal announced Wednesday, Xerox, of Norwalk, Conn., will become part of the Fuji Xerox joint venture, which sells office products and services in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the deal, it will issue a combined $2.5 billion in cash dividends to its shareholders.