The Ricoh Company, Ltd. (株式会社リコー, Kabushiki-gaisha Rikō) is a Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company. It was founded by the RIKEN zaibatsu on 6 February 1936 as Riken Sensitized Paper (理研感光紙, Riken Kankōshi). Ricoh's headquarters are located in Ricoh Building in Chūō, Tokyo.
Ricoh produces electronic products, primarily cameras and office equipment such as printers, photocopiers, fax machines, offers Software as a Service (SaaS) document management solutions such as DocumentMall, RicohDocs, document solutions such as GlobalScan, Print&Share and also offers Projectors. In the late 1990s through early 2000s, the company grew to become the largest copier manufacturer in the world. During this time, Ricoh acquired Savin, Gestetner, Lanier, Rex-Rotary, Monroe, Nashuatec, IKON and most recently IBM Printing Systems Division / Infoprint Solutions Company. Although the Monroe brand was discontinued, products continue to be marketed worldwide under the remaining brand names. In 2006, Ricoh acquired the European operations of Danka for $210 million. These operations continue as a stand-alone business unit, under the Infotec brand.
The company was founded in 1936. Before relocating to Chūō, Ricoh was first in Minato, Tokyo. In 2006 Ricoh's headquarters moved to the Ricoh Building, a 25-story building in the Ginza area in Chūō; there it occupies the same space as its sales offices.
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ricoh was the primary manufacturer of Pitney-Bowes copiers. They have also manufactured copiers for Toshiba, fax machines for AT&T Corporation and Omnifax, as well as a wide variety of equipment for numerous other companies including duplicators for AB Dick. They also manufactured the Ricoh 2A03 8-bit processor used in the Nintendo Entertainment System.
In 2003 Ricoh bought naming rights to the CNE Coliseum (now known as Ricoh Coliseum) in Toronto.
In 2004 Ricoh acquired Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd creating a new company, Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd.
In 2005 Ricoh bought the naming rights to the stadium/entertainment complex, home to Coventry City Football Club now called the Ricoh Arena.
In November 2006, Ricoh announced the integration of the head office of Ricoh Europe B.V. (REBV) in Amstelveen, Netherlands, with NRG's European headquarters in London, United Kingdom. This was completed on April 1, with the former NRG HQ in London becoming the Strategic HQ and the former REBV HQ in Amstelveen becoming the Operational HQ. This mirrors a similar process which took place in the US with Lanier and Ricoh USA.
This integration was the first step in integration within each country in Europe. A single country organisation was created in Austria on July 1, 2007, the UK integration being currently in process and integration also taking place in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
On January 25, 2007, Ricoh announced purchase of IBM Printing Systems Division for $725 million and investment in a 3-year joint venture to form the new Ricoh subsidiary, InfoPrint Solutions Company, with a 51% share.
In February 2008, Ricoh partnered up with PrinterOn to set up two new HotSpot printers: The SP C410DN-KP color printer and the SP 4100N-KP monochrome printer which allows Wi-Fi enabled users to print documents from any location.
On August 27, 2008, Ricoh announced its intentions of acquiring IKON Office Solutions for $1.6 billion and later that year, on November 1, Ricoh completed the acquisition.
In May 2011, Ricoh announced a cut of 10,000 jobs worldwide up to March 2014 from the current 40,000 workers in Japan and 68,900 others overseas. The company would also shift 15,000 workers to areas with more growth potential.
Japanese optical glass-maker Hoya Corporation said on July 1, 2011, it would sell its Pentax camera business to Ricoh, in a deal the Nikkei business daily said was worth about 10 billion yen ($124.2 million). On July 29, 2011, Hoya transferred its Pentax imaging systems business to a newly established subsidiary called Pentax Imaging Corporation. On October 1, 2011, Ricoh acquired all shares of Pentax Imaging Corp. and renamed the new subsidiary Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd.
