Jabil Circuit to Acquire HP's Laserjet Formatter Manufacturing Group
St. Petersburg, FL - May 11, 1998 - Jabil Circuit, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Company
announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding for Jabil to buy the manufacturing
assets of HP's LaserJet Solutions Group Formatter Manufacturing Organization (FMO). Under the terms
of the memorandum, Jabil will acquire the printed-circuit assembly assets of the FMO operations
in Boise, Idaho and Bergamo, Italy and offer employment to the 600 employees of those operations.
The definitive agreements are intended to be signed before August 31, 1998. The
acquired operations will continue to provide circuit-board assemblies for the LaserJet printer divisions of HP.
Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
"We have studied many 'EM factory acquisition opportunities offered over the last
several years and feel that HP's FMO operations are a remarkable fit for us," said Thomas Sansone,
president of Jabil Circuit. "With the acquisition of these operations, we will gain an experienced and
talented manufacturing team that we believe is uniquely compatible with our culture and values. We
gain participation in the printer market as a strategic supplier to the market leader, and we will
establish new manufacturing geographies in both the Western United States and in Continental Europe."
Sansone also indicated that the acquisition includes significant advanced manufacturing
technologies, notably specialized automation and process-development capabilities.
"Jabil's technology and quality leadership will allow us to continue to provide our
customers with outstanding printing solutions," said Carolyn Ticknor, HP vice president and general manager
of the HP LaserJet Solutions Group. "This new relationship will give our employees growth and
advancement opportunities with a successful, high-quality company, while allowing HP to implement
a more efficient business model and deliver the best value in products to our customers."
"This opportunity represents our first significant acquisition," said Scott Brown, Jabil's
vice president, Corporate Development. "With the help of the talented and professional team at HP,
we intend to achieve a new standard of seamless transition for this kind of manufacturing
strategy conversion. We believe the benefits to the customers, employees and shareholders of both
companies will be significant."
For further information visit the HP website at www.hp.com. or the Jabil Circuit site at
www. jabil.com.
This article originally appeared in the June 1998 issue of Recharger.