Lexmark

History

Lexmark International, Inc. traces its origin to IBM's Information Products operation, which encompassed IBM's printer, typewriter, and keyboard manufacturing. On March 27, 1991, the private-investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (styled "Clayton & Dubilier" in some accounts) completed a leveraged buyout of this business, establishing it as an independent company named Lexmark International. Company-history sources report that the name was formed from "lex" (as in lexicon) and "mark" (as in marks on paper); this account appears in secondary company histories rather than in a primary Lexmark or IBM statement, and is best treated as reported rather than independently documented.

As an IBM spin-off, Lexmark initially continued producing IBM-branded office equipment. Among these products was the IBM Wheelwriter line of electronic daisy-wheel typewriters, which IBM had introduced in 1984 as a successor to its earlier Selectric family. Lexmark retained the tooling and manufacturing rights for the Wheelwriter after the 1991 separation, and the machines remained IBM-branded. Over the following years the company shifted its focus increasingly toward computer printers, and on November 15, 1995 it listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LXK.

Through the 1990s and 2000s Lexmark built a business spanning both laser and inkjet printing, serving consumer, small-office, and enterprise customers. In the 2010s it repositioned toward higher-margin enterprise laser hardware, document software, and managed print services. It acquired the enterprise content-management firm Perceptive Software in 2010 and announced the acquisition of the process-automation company Kofax in 2015, while winding down its consumer inkjet business. In 2016 Lexmark was taken private by an international investor consortium, and in 2025 it was acquired by Xerox.

Timeline

1. 1991 (March 27)

   Clayton, Dubilier & Rice completes a leveraged buyout of IBM's printer, typewriter, and keyboard operations, forming Lexmark International.

2. 1991–c.2001

   Lexmark manufactures the IBM Wheelwriter electronic typewriter line (an IBM product first introduced in 1984), which remains IBM-branded.

3. 1995 (November 15)

   Lexmark lists on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker LXK.

4. 2010 (May)

   Lexmark acquires Perceptive Software, an enterprise content-management software firm (products including ImageNow / Perceptive Content).

5. 2012 (August)

   Lexmark announces that it will stop making inkjet printers.

6. 2013 (April)

   Funai Electric acquires Lexmark's inkjet technology and related assets.

7. 2015

   Lexmark acquires the process-automation software company Kofax (announced March 2015, completed May 2015).

8. 2016 (April 19)

   Lexmark agrees to be acquired by a consortium led by Apex Technology and PAG Asia Capital, with Legend Capital.

9. 2016 (November 29)

   The consortium acquisition closes; Lexmark becomes a private company and is delisted from the NYSE. The enterprise software line is subsequently spun off and rebranded under the Kofax name.

10. 2017 (May 26)

    Apex Technology (Zhuhai Apex Technology) is renamed Ninestar Corporation.

11. 2025 (July 1)

    Xerox completes its acquisition of Lexmark from Ninestar, PAG Asia Capital, and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre.

Printing technologies

Lexmark's product history centers on two core printing technologies, alongside a legacy typewriter technology inherited from IBM.

• Laser (electrophotographic) printing — Lexmark's core and most enduring technology, spanning monochrome and color laser printers and laser-based multifunction devices that combine printing, copying, scanning, and faxing.
• Inkjet printing — A significant business line from the 1990s through the early 2010s, covering consumer and small-office inkjet printers and all-in-one devices. Lexmark announced its exit from the inkjet product business in 2012, though it continued to support and supply its existing installed base after ceasing new-product development.
• Electronic typewriter (daisy-wheel) technology — Inherited from IBM in the company's early years through the Wheelwriter line, reflecting Lexmark's origin in IBM's office-equipment operations.

Major printer families

Lexmark has marketed a range of laser printer and multifunction product families over its history. Two are documented directly in IBM and Lexmark materials:

• Optra — a laser printer product line, including Optra and Optra S / Optra Se models, documented in IBM/Lexmark support materials.
• Lexmark X series — multifunction (all-in-one) devices, including color laser multifunction printers such as the X738de (a print/copy/scan/fax device).
• IBM Wheelwriter — the electronic daisy-wheel typewriter line manufactured by Lexmark following the 1991 spin-off.

Lexmark has also used series designators such as C, E, T, MS, and MX for various laser printers and multifunction devices over the years. These line names are widely associated with the brand, but specific model numbers within them are not individually cited here, and should be confirmed against Lexmark's own product documentation.

Product areas

Lexmark's products have addressed several distinct market segments:

• Enterprise and business — Lexmark's primary and enduring focus: workgroup and departmental laser printers, multifunction printers, managed print services, and document-imaging software for businesses and institutions.
• Consumer and small office — Historically served by inkjet printers and all-in-one devices, a segment the company exited in the early 2010s.
• Fax and multifunction — Incorporated into laser multifunction devices that combine printing, copying, scanning, and faxing in a single unit.

Major innovations

Lexmark's documented contributions center on the design and manufacture of laser and inkjet imaging hardware and, in its later years, on integrating printing hardware with enterprise document-management and content-capture software and with managed print services. The company's acquisitions of Perceptive Software and Kofax extended its reach from hardware into document workflow and process-automation software.

This page does not assert any specific patented "first" or breakthrough claim on Lexmark's behalf, because none was independently verified against authoritative technical-history sources in the research for this entry. Where concrete innovation claims are needed, they should be corroborated through primary technical or museum-archive documentation.

Influence on printing history

Lexmark represents a notable case of a major corporate division — IBM's printing and office-equipment operations — becoming an independent, publicly traded manufacturer and then a global printing brand in its own right. Its trajectory illustrates a broader industry pattern: beginning as an IBM spin-off, operating across both laser and inkjet lines for consumer and enterprise customers, then making a deliberate exit from consumer inkjet in favor of enterprise laser hardware, document software, and managed print services.

That repositioning during the 2010s mirrors a wider shift in the printing industry away from commodity consumer inkjet and toward business imaging and document services. Lexmark's eventual acquisition by Xerox in 2025 reflects continued consolidation among established printer manufacturers.

Relationships with other manufacturers

• IBM — Lexmark's parent of origin. The company was formed from IBM's printer, typewriter, and keyboard operations in 1991 and continued producing IBM-branded typewriters and printers in its early years.
• Clayton, Dubilier & Rice — the private-investment firm whose 1991 leveraged buyout created the independent company.
• Funai Electric — acquired Lexmark's inkjet technology and assets in 2013 as Lexmark exited that business.
• Apex Technology / Ninestar, PAG Asia Capital, Legend Capital — the investor consortium that took Lexmark private in 2016; Apex Technology was later renamed Ninestar Corporation in 2017.
• Kofax — Lexmark's former enterprise-software line, spun off and rebranded under the Kofax name after the 2016 take-private.
• Xerox — acquired Lexmark in 2025, uniting the two printing companies.

Legacy technologies

Two elements of Lexmark's product history are now discontinued legacy technologies.

The first is the electronic daisy-wheel typewriter, represented by the IBM Wheelwriter line that Lexmark manufactured after the 1991 spin-off. Introduced by IBM in 1984, the Wheelwriter carried forward the office-typewriter lineage that had begun with IBM's Selectric machines; Lexmark produced the line into the early 2000s before it was discontinued.

The second is Lexmark's consumer inkjet business. After roughly two decades of inkjet printers and all-in-one devices, Lexmark announced in 2012 that it would stop making inkjet printers, and in 2013 Funai Electric acquired the associated inkjet technology and assets. Lexmark continued to support its existing inkjet customers after ceasing new inkjet product development.

Current status

As of July 1, 2025, Lexmark is a subsidiary of Xerox, which completed its acquisition of the company from Ninestar, PAG Asia Capital, and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre. Prior to that, from late 2016, Lexmark had operated as a privately held company under the investor consortium that took it private, having been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Throughout these ownership changes, Lexmark's headquarters have remained in Lexington, Kentucky.