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Sony will hold an 11.46 per cent stake in Olympus after the two companies enter into a ‘business and capital alliance’.
“As part of our strategic initiatives announced in April 2013, at Sony we are aggressively pursuing the growth of our medial business, with the aim of developing it into a key pillar of our overall business portfolio,” commented Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO, Sony.
Olympus controls around 70 per cent of the global market for endoscopes, minuscule cameras used by doctors to look inside the human body.
Sony will invest 50 billion yen into the camera manufacturer in exchange for gaining a seat on Olympus’s board and a 51 per cent stake in a new joint venture continuing to further develop medical imaging technology.
“By combining Sony’s cutting-edge technologies in areas such as digital imaging, 3D and 4K with Olympus’s long-standing experience and established foundations in the medical market, we believe that we will be able to create highly innovative and competitive products and generate new business opportunities in surgical endoscopes and other related areas where significant future growth is anticipated.”
By selecting Sony as a partner, Olympus rejected offers from camera maker Fujifilm as well as medical device maker Terumo Corp
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