Fujifilm Holdings Corp. said Monday it will dissolve a contract with Xerox Corp. on sales cooperation and the right to use the U.S. office equipment company's brand, opting to enter the U.S. and European markets with its own brand.
Fujifilm notified Xerox it will not renew the current five-year contract that runs to the end of March 2021. Under the contract, a Fujifilm unit named Fuji Xerox Co. was allowed to engage in sales in the Asia-Pacific region while Xerox covered Europe and the United States.
With the decision, Fujifilm will also no longer need to pay about ¥10 billion ($92 million) in license fees annually charged by Xerox for using its brand on products sold in the Asia-Pacific region.
In line with the termination of the contract, Fuji Xerox will be renamed Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. as of April 1, 2021. The company said it will continue to supply products to Xerox even after the contract ends.
"Fuji Xerox is now strongly positioned to conduct businesses dynamically and with more liberty in a truly global manner," Fuji Xerox President Koichi Tamai said in a prepared statement.
Fuji Xerox had been a joint venture with the U.S. company for 57 years before Fujifilm made it a wholly owned business in November 2019.
The end of the decadeslong partnership came as Fujifilm scrapped its plan to merge with Xerox, announced in 2018, amid strong opposition by the U.S. firm's major shareholders.