Oce shareholder asks court to look into Canon offer

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Activist shareholder Hermes Asset Management, which has attacked Canon's (7751.T) $1 billion offer for Dutch maker of photocopier and printing systems Oce NV OCEN.AS, has asked a Dutch court to look into the deal.

A spokeswoman for the Dutch commercial court confirmed Hermes, which holds 3.3 percent of Oce shares, had filed the case but declined to give any details.

Management of the mid-cap company, which makes printing and copy systems as well as scanners, told displeased shareholders earlier this month the offer from Japan's Canon was the best they could get.

Hermes had said Canon's 8.60 euro per share offer was a "meager representation of Oce's value," while 10 percent shareholder Orbis Portfolio Management had qualified the offer as "significantly undervaluing" the company. Danish fund Sparinvest, which owns 5.5 percent of Oce's shares, has said the offer did not "reflect the full value" of Oce.

Canon has said it would declare the offer unconditional if 85 percent of shares were tendered, but it could also decide to lower the threshold after the tender period expires on March 1.

Oce shares were down 0.2 percent at 8.60 euros by 1540 GMT.

(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Eva Hagendoorn; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)