Q. The message behind Imation and its tagline, "Borne of 3M Innovation," is directly connected to the new company's 3M heritage. Which aspects of the 3M culture will you keep and which will you seek to change?

A. Innovation will be a hallmark of 3M's success, and Imation will be proud to uphold this tradition of innovation. We will be a new company, borne of 3M's much-admired innovation, and many of 3M's powerful business principles will be carried over, including a focus on understanding the global marketplace, quality products, customer focus and ethical values.

To achieve our potential, however, we must remove many of the boundaries that have existed between business units, encouraging employees to work together to find the optimal solutions for our customers. We'll look outward, forging strategic alliances with companies that can help us develop these customer solutions more quickly and less expensively. We'll outsource activities that aren't core to our overall business strategy. In general, Imation will have an entrepreneurial atmosphere _ we'll be lean, fast, decisive, focused and proactive.

Q. Imation's management comes from 3M's ranks. Can the same people bring about real change?

A. Imation's management team will be comprised of experienced individuals who understand their businesses and their customers, and who are committed to creating a dramatically different organization that is customer-focused, innovative and fast to market with information and imaging solutions. In fact, most of the members of our management team have been in their current positions for a relatively short time, so they bring a fresh perspective to our businesses.

The talents and commitment of the employees who will be part of Imation helped build 3M into a world-class organization. Successful employees will convert change into an opportunity for our new company and themselves. We have every reason to believe these skilled people will help us reach the true potential of our business.

Q. From the shareholder's point of view, how do you expect to grow Imation and increase profits when the company is launched in July?

A. In the short-term, Imation has a specific plan that already has been put in place. We are reducing operating costs, focusing on short-term sales opportunities, and undertaking a complete re-engineering of our business processes - a step that will take about 18 months to execute.

Our long-term growth will come from a number of strategies, all of which will help us increase our existing business base within the $18-plus billion imaging and storage business: a focus on market-driven customer solutions, new business development, the formation of strategic alliances, acquisitions, and worldwide expansion. In addition, we see tremendous opportunities to develop an international product penetration for a number of new products, such as our DryViewTM laser imagers, RainbowTM color proofing system, TravanTM data cartridge and LS-120 diskette technologies. Imation will utilize shareholder capital wisely, strategically, and in innovative ways that will ensure long-term profitability.

Q. How do you intend to increase the non-U.S. portion of Imation's revenues?

A. Imation will have tremendous growth opportunities globally. We are a world leader in many of our core businesses, and we'll benefit from this position as we seek aggressive growth in markets that are under-penetrated or that we have not yet tapped. Specifically, there are short- and long-term opportunities in Europe, Asia and Latin America that we intend to leverage. In addition, we will create an international structure that will compress decision-making time so we can be much more responsive to customers in these markets.

Q. Do you plan to sell off any parts of Imation's business? What about acquisitions?

A. We are going to grow our business by developing new business opportunities. This may mean forming strategic alliances, and it may mean acquiring technologies and companies. Any technology that has synergy with ours will help Imation to fulfill our goal to be the best source of information and imaging solutions anywhere.

We fully intend to be the market leader in all of our businesses. As part of the re-engineering process, we will be evaluating all of our businesses and growth opportunities. While we have no current plans to sell any portion of our business, we cannot entirely rule out that possibility.

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