Microtomic Mystery

The pencil below is a bit of a mystery. It is an Microtomic 603 pencil but instead of the expected "Eberhard Faber" name it says "Dixon". What is going on here?

Microtomic 603 with Dixon name and diamond star logo

Below is what you would expect to see. A Microtomic with the typical Eberhard Faber name on it.

Microtomic 603 with Eberhard Faber name and diamond star logo

To get to the bottom of this mystery, we need to unravel the complex web of writing company acquisitions and mergers. Eberhard Faber (Canada) Ltd. was the Canadian subsidiary of The Eberhard Faber Pencil Company located in the USA. This subsidiary was facing financial challenges in the late 1970s and was purchased by The Dixon Pencil Company of Canada Ltd. This was the Canadian subsidiary of the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company in the USA. In the US however, the story is different. Eberhard Faber was purchased by acquired by Faber-Castell and later by Newell (Sanford) and rolled into the Papermate brand. Dixon was purchased by FILA. This is why you currently see Pink Pearl erasers, originally from Eberhard Faber, sold by Dixon (FILA) in Canada but by Papermate (Newell)  in the USA. 

The factory in Acton Vale had the benefit of having the machines used to fully vulcanize raw rubber. This made it ideal for specializing in erasers and rubber bands. I believe that when Dixon took over, they focused on eraser production and quickly ceased pencil production. Because of this, my guess is that the Dixon Microtomic seen in this post is fairly rare. If you nave any additional insight, I'd appreciate more information.

Articles

Voice from the East, December 23, 1977, Friday, December 23, 1977
The sale of Eberhard Faber of Acton Vale is imminent
By Fernand BELANGER
ACTON VALE— The sale of the firm Eberhard Faber of Acton Vale to the company Dixon Pencil has just taken an important step as the federal government approved this transaction.
This move by government authorities follows a suggestion from the Foreign Investment Monitoring Agency. Mr. Gordon Dewhirst, director of research for this organization, explained that this transaction had to be approved by Ottawa since the company Dixon Pencil has its head office in the United States.
Mr. Dewhirst also specified that it is the Canadian subsidiary of Dixon Pencil, in Toronto, which is making this acquisition. He concluded by stressing that he was not authorized to give the details of this transaction “and this because of the regulations which govern FIMA.
For his part, the manager of the Acton Vale plant, Mr. Jean-Guy Desloges, declined to comment until the transaction is officially concluded.
Finally, Mr. Marcel Jetté, president of the union, said he was happy that the agreement between the two firms seems to be coming to fruition. He explained that this sale should allow a revival of this industry which has experienced major problems for several years and significantly increase the number of employees which currently stands at 19.
It should be noted that a new two-year collective agreement was signed at the beginning of November and that the talks took place in the context of a possible closure of the plant, following a notice to that effect sent to the Minister of Labor and Manpower on August 26.
It was following this agreement that negotiations between Eberhard Faber, which is also a subsidiary of an American firm, and Dixon Pencil accelerated with the result that an official agreement could perhaps be reached at the beginning of 1978 and bring a new era of prosperity for this factory established in Acton Vale for 25 years and which manufactures lead pencils as well as erasers.​

The voice of the East, April 8, 1978, Saturday April 8,
Eberhard Faber sold - Dixon Pencil moves into Acton Vale factory
By Fernand BELANGER
ACTON VALE — The Eberhard Faber company of Acton Vale is now under the control of the firm Dixon Pencil Ltd while the federal government has just approved the documents relating to this transaction. The firm Eberhard Faber, founded more than 25 years ago, was the Canadian subsidiary of the company of the same name which has its head office in the United States and becomes the property of Dixon Pencil, an industry established in Ontario and which is the subsidiary Canadian by Joseph Dixon Crucible of Jersey City, in the US state of New Jersey.
Changes
The new manager of the plant, Mr. Jean-Paul Roy, indicated that this market will require an investment of around 1,500,000, this sum including the purchase of the firm as well as the changes that will have to be made in order to modernize equipment with the particular aim of diversifying production. Thus, the current focus is mainly on the manufacture of rubber bands and erasers. The changes that will be made, as part of a three-year planning program, will include the addition of the manufacture of pens and pencils.
According to Mr. Roy, one of the goals of this planning is to reduce the production cost of elastic bands, which constitutes the bulk of sales, so that the Eberhard Faber company can face competition from other companies working in the same fields both at home and abroad.
On the other hand, these changes should also have the effect of increasing the number of employees, especially if the anticipated recovery in sales occurs. However, Mr. Roy said he was unable to specify when this increase in the workforce will occur, stressing that it will be necessary to wait a few months to verify the evolution of the situation. For now, the number of employees will remain static at 19, the same total as when the last agreement was signed in the fall of 1977.
Mr. Roy concluded by emphasizing that the Eberhard Faber company should be able to take advantage of Dixon Pencil's sales network to increase its market share, both in Quebec and in other Canadian provinces.
Financial difficulties
It should be remembered that the Eberhard Faber company in Acton Vale has suffered financial losses on several occasions over the past decade and that the managers of the head office had decided, during the past year, to close the Canadian division. A notice to this effect had also been sent to the Minister of Labor and Manpower, Mr. Pierre-Marc Johnson, on August 26.
But already at that time, negotiations had been undertaken between Eberhard Faber and Dixon Pencil with a view to the acquisition by the latter of the Acton Vale facilities. The two parties having finally come to an agreement, all that was missing was the approval of the Foreign Investment Surveillance Agency, a procedure which has been completed in recent weeks.
We can mention in conclusion that the American company Dixon is not new to the sector since the year 1977 marked the 150th anniversary of this firm.