Xerox buys Tektronix division

The purchase of Tektronix's (NYSE:TEK) color printing and imaging division will take Xerox (NYSE:XRX) to the number two spot in the office color printing market, the company said. The combined printer business will control around 30 percent of the office color printing market according to Xerox.

The move helps strengthen Xerox in its fight against Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP) for control of the printer market. While HP dominates the market, Xerox has been coming on strong, according to Infobeads, the market research division of Ziff-Davis Inc., Xerox even topped HP in a survey of user loyalty.

"This is a case that embodies the concept that one plus one equals three," Tektronix CEO Jerry Meyer said in a release. Meyer said that the combination of Tektronix's products and Xerox's brand "will have a dynamic impact on the worldwide color printer market."

Xerox said its color printer operations would be combined with Tektronix, and will be run by Gerry Perkel, formerly president of the Tektronix division.

Tektronix reported nearly $725 million in sales last year for its Phaser color laser and solid ink printer line.