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Exhibit (a)(9)
For Immediate Release
RICOH AND LANIER ANNOUNCE EXPIRATION OF HART-SCOTT- RODINO WAITING
PERIOD
TOKYO, JAPAN and ATLANTA, GA, U.S.A., December 18, 2000 - Ricoh Company, Ltd.
(TSE: 7752) and Lanier Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: LR) announced today that the
waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976,
as amended (the "HSR Act"), in connection with the pending acquisition of Lanier
Worldwide by Ricoh, expired on Friday, December 15, 2000. As previously
announced, Ricoh commenced a cash tender offer of $3.00 per share for any and
all shares of Lanier Worldwide, Inc. common stock on December 8, 2000. The
expiration of the waiting period under the HSR Act satisfies one of the
conditions to the tender offer. The tender offer is scheduled to expire at
midnight, New York City time, on January 8, 2001, unless the tender offer is
extended.
Lanier stockholders are advised to read Ricoh's tender offer statement
(including an offer to purchase, letter of transmittal, and related tender
offer documents) regarding its acquisition of Lanier, which has been sent to
Lanier stockholders and filed with the SEC, and the related
solicitation/recommendation statement which has been sent to Lanier
stockholders and filed with the SEC. The tender offer statement and the
solicitation/recommendation statement contain important information and
should be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the
tender offer. These documents are available to all stockholders of Lanier at
no expense to them. These documents also are available at no charge at the
SEC's web site, www.sec.gov.
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CONTACT: RICOH COMPANY, LTD. LANIER WORLDWIDE, INC.
Takanobu Matsunami Brad Nelson
(+81-3) 5411-4511 770-621-1076
[email protected]
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