Plans for the strategic alliance were announced by the two Japanese manufacturers nine months ago.

The new company, Global Procurement Partners Corp, was officially established today (31 January).

The initial share capital is ¥50m (£260,000).

Fujifilm Business Innovation is the majority partner with a 75% stake, with Konica Minolta holding the remaining 25%.

The newco is based at Epic Tower in Yokohama City and has 192 employees with 137 seconded from Fujifilm BI, and 55 from KM.

Global Procurement Partners is helmed by President Masaharu Furukawa, who is corporate vice president and director at Fujifilm BI.

The business remit was defined under three core functions: development of procurement strategies and deployment to the procurement function divisions at each production site; procurement lead function, including negotiation with suppliers and procurement management; and procurement services to ensure quality, cost, delivery, and environmental compliance of externally purchased goods.