Océ already sells Konica Minolta office and production equipment in the US and added Europe last year. It will now also sell into Asia and Latin America.

Océ senior vice president, corporate communications Jan Hol said the move enabled Konica Minolta to take advantage of "Océ's strength in the colour cut-sheet market".

Konica Minolta will add the Océ high-end Varioprint 6000 series to its Océ portfolio for certain markets.

The companies will also put together a joint R&D team to develop technology roadmaps for light and mid-range production presses and create an "optimum product mix" to complement each others' ranges.

Hol said the initiative would give Océ "the best of both worlds", although further details on the project, such as any patent licensing, was not available.

Océ has also announced a deal with Fuji Xerox to sell its Océ TCS wide-format colour equipment in Asia this year.

Hol told printweek.com that the existing distribution agreement between it and Fujifilm Sericol had set a precedent for this. He said that such agreements enabled Océ to take advantage of other companies' "better market positions" in specific markets and territories and meets customers' demands to get all their equipment under one roof.

"What we have certainly noticed is the trend for customers wanting one-stop shopping," he said.