April 17, 2012 5:23 PM

Cravath Advises IBM on $850 Million Sale of Scanner Unit to Toshiba

Posted by Tom Huddleston Jr.

UPDATE, 4/18/12, 11:05 a.m., EDT: The Asian Lawyer reports that a 17-lawyer Morrison Foerster team led by Tokyo managing partner Kenneth Siegel is representing Toshiba Tec in this transaction.

International Business Machines has agreed to sell a division of the company that makes retail scanners, bar-code machines, and cash registers to Toshiba Tec for $850 million.

Toshiba Tec, half of which is owned by electronics maker Toshiba, said Tuesday that it will buy the unit, which generated $1.15 billion in sales last year. The acquisition will add such customers as Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us to Toshiba Tec’s, according to Reuters.

While the joint press release announcing the deal does not explain how the deal will be financed, The Wall Street Journal reports that the purchase price will be paid in cash. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter.

Cravath, Swaine Moore is representing Armonk, New York–based IBM, a longtime firm client, in the matter. Cravath’s team includes corporate partner George Schoen, executive compensation and benefits partner Jennifer Conway, tax partner Andrew Needham, and environmental partner Matthew Morreale. Robert Weber is IBM’s general counsel.

Cravath, whose relationship with IBM spans decades, worked on a string of deals for Big Blue toward the end 2011 as the tech giant seeks to increase its focus on software and cloud computing. As The Am Law Daily reported last fall, Cravath represented IBM in September on its acquisitions of analytics software companies i2 and Algorithmics. In December the firm went to work again on IBM’s behalf, advising the company on its acquisitions of analytics software company DemandTec and Dublin-based social enterprise software outfit Cúram.

Toshiba did not immediately respond to requests for comment about its legal counsel on the transaction.

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