Siemens Finance & Leasing GmbH and Canon Deutschland GmbH agree on a cooperation agreement for sales financing

“Canon Easy Charge” as a click-price model designed especially for Canon reseller partners
München, Oct 18, 2006

Siemens Finance & Leasing GmbH (SF&L) and Canon Deutschland GmbH have worked out an agreement covering commercial sales financing. In the process, the companies have created a financing program designed to meet the needs of Canon reseller partners. In addition to the new click-price model called “Canon Easy Charge”, a number of other SF&L financing programs are available to Canon reseller partners.

Canon is not just the innovation and market leader in the area of digital photography and desktop color printers. As a supplier of IT solutions for document printing and management, the company and its reseller partners also have become successful market forces in Germany.

Jeppe Frandsen, executive director of Canon Deutschland GmbH and the country manager for the Canon business area named Business Solutions, views the cooperation agreement, announced in conjunction with their Canon Partner Convention in Berlin, as an integral part of his company’s future growth: “In the current year, we are planning to boost sales and profits by 7 percent, and our reseller partners will have to do their part as well. The tailor-made financing solutions from SF&L will certainly help our reseller partners to be even more successful.”

In order to meet the specific needs of the target group as closely as possible, Siemens Finance & Leasing worked with Canon to create the click-price model called Canon Easy Charge. It shows the total cost of printing and copying solutions for all sizes of companies. As a result, it goes far beyond the financing of the required (printing) hardware. After all, only a relatively small share of the total expenditures on document printing goes toward hardware purchases. A much bigger share, on the other hand, is spent on operation and maintenance.

In the Canon Easy Charge program, the Canon reseller partner initially concludes a contract with the end customer. Siemens Finance & Leasing then enters the contract. The agreement includes both the supply of the equipment as well as maintenance and repair services by the dealer. The customer’s monthly payment covers all costs related to the operation of all leased equipment – except paper. The amount of the monthly payment is based on a calculated expenditure and printing volume.

One special feature of the Canon Easy Charge model is its flexibility: During the life of the contract, individual pieces of equipment can be replaced or the contract can be rewritten to cover specific needs, including even a uniform termination date. To serve all needs, Canon reseller partners also can offer their customers other, proven financing models offered by SF&L – including terminable leasing contracts or lease-purchase agreements – and use the online leasing tool capaxx.

Christian Foltyn, a member of the Management Board at Siemens Finance & Leasing, says the arrangement with Canon Deutschland GmbH represents another milestone: “In Canon, we have gained a partner who has an excellent reputation and is a major player in the marketplace. We are really happy about gaining access to the Canon reseller partners as a follow-up to our successful relationship with Canon’s direct-sales operation. In the process, we are strengthening our position as a vendor-independent financing provider and expanding our sector spectrum in one stroke.”

Siemens Finance & Leasing GmbH, part of Siemens Financial Services GmbH, ranks among the leading providers of equipment leasing. The company has a nationwide distribution network in Germany. Siemens Finance & Leasing has more than 10,000 customers in Germany, including numerous small and medium-sized companies and self-employed professionals as well as major multinational corporations, municipal, state and federal authorities as well as public entities. Further information is available on the Internet at: www.siemens.de/leasing.

With its roughly 1,700 employees and an international network of financial companies coordinated by Siemens Financial Services GmbH, Munich, the Siemens Financial Services (SFS) Group offers a broad range of financial services. This covers everything from sales and investment financing to treasury services, fund management and insurance brokerage. SFS’s key customers are above all internationally active industrial and services companies, as well as public-sector operators. More information under: www.sfs.siemens.com.

Canon Deutschland GmbH, a company with nearly 1,000 employees, is one of the leading suppliers of technology for the home and office. Its range of products includes successful consumer-imaging products like cameras and camcorders, broadcast equipment, LCD projectors, flat-bed scanners, printers and fax machines as well as business solutions with high-tech office systems and IT solutions and services. A special focus of its service is analyzing and optimizing work processes, system integration, and document and output management. Canon offers these services in cooperation with its authorized Canon reseller partners as well as with the nine Canon business centers located across Germany. More information under: www.canon.de.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. These statements may be identified by words as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “seeks”, “estimates”, “will” or words of similar meaning. Such statements are based on our current expectations and certain assumptions, and are, therefore, subject to certain risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Siemens’ control, affect its operations, performance, business strategy and results and could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Siemens worldwide to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For us, particular uncertainties arise, among others, from changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies, lack of acceptance of new products or services by customers targeted by Siemens worldwide, changes in business strategy and various other factors. More detailed information about certain of these factors is contained in Siemens’ filings with the SEC, which are available on the Siemens website, www.siemens.com and on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. Siemens does not intend or assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.

Contact Information

Dr. Christian Kosch

Press Office

Siemens Financial Services GmbH

Contact via E-mail