Xerox Corp., a once-iconic American innovator that became synonymous with office copy machines, is ceding control to Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp. in a deal that creates an $18 billion company and marks the end of the independence of the corporate giant.

Xerox, which has a market value of $8.3 billion, will first merge with a joint venture the company operates with Fujifilm in Asia, according to a statement Wednesday. Current Xerox shareholders will receive a cash dividend of $9.80 per share. Tokyo-based Fujifilm will ultimately end up owning 50.1 percent of the combined entity, which expands the joint venture to encompass all of Xerox’s operations.

The Fujifilm Holdings Corp., which takes over Xerox, hopes to expand its global reach and develop inkjet imaging and artificial intelligence. Bloomberg/Kiyoshi Ota

The deal will make for a more global company, according to Simon Chan, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “In the past, Fuji Xerox only operated in the Asia-Pacific region, and Xerox targets the Americas and Europe. With the combined company, they can share cost on research, product development and potentially manufacturing capacity as well,” he said.

Xerox shares were up 3.3 percent to $33.75 in early trading in New York Wednesday.

It also marks the end of independence for a U.S. company whose roots trace back to the start of the 20th century. Xerox became famous for its hardware — its copiers were so ubiquitous that the name Xerox became a verb — and it also invented an early graphic interface and mouse now so familiar with modern computers.

But it has fallen on hard times as Canon Inc. and Asian competitors eroded its dominance while email and other forms of electronic communications took over. The new company will accelerate revenue growth through its global reach and pursue developments in inkjet, imaging and artificial intelligence, it said.

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