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Xerox launches Net unit
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December 23, 1999: 12:43 p.m. ET
Copier maker pools Internet business, seeking partners and outside capital
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Copier maker Xerox Corp., reeling from recent earnings trouble, is forming an Internet-related business unit that eventually could be spun off into a separate company.
The Stamford, Conn.-based company said the new Internet Business Group, disclosed Thursday, will be headed by Michael Miron, its business development chief. Xerox said the unit will seek outside venture capital and partnerships.
"It’s to take technology brewing in our labs and to provide a clearer path to get such things to market,” said Christa Carone, a Xerox spokeswoman. "There is the potential that some of the businesses could be spun off into separate companies ... but we don’t have anything in mind right now.”
Among the tools Xerox will put under the Internet group umbrella is ContentGuard, which helps publishers protect their copyrights for digital books.
Xerox has been reeling. Earlier this month, it announced fourth-quarter earnings will miss Wall Street targets by about 40 percent, and Tuesday it disclosed a corporate reshuffling.
The launch of the Internet group, said Carone, is "not a direct reaction to some of the problems that we’ve had lately.” She said there will be roughly 200
people in the division.
Shares of Xerox (XRX), which are down more than 55 percent since Aug. 31, fell another 3/8 to 21-5/16 in late Thursday morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. 
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Xerox
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