Reference is made to the joint press releases of Canon Inc. (trading symbol CAJ) ("Canon") and Océ N.V. (trading symbol OCE) ("Océ") of 16 November 2009 announcing that Canon intends to make a fully self-funded, public cash offer for all the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Océ (the "Ordinary Shares") at an offer price of € 8.60 in cash per Ordinary Share (the "Offer") and 14 December 2009 in respect of the progress being made on the preparations of the Offer.
The European Commission and the Taiwanese competition authorities have granted clearance for Canon's proposed acquisition of Océ, without imposing any conditions. As announced on 21 and 22 December 2009, the anti-trust procedures in respectively the United States and Switzerland are also successfully completed.
With the approval of these competition authorities, an important step in the offer process has been taken.
