Bloomberg: What Oly takeover company would want

[justmeMN]

"...camera revenue tumbled in the past three years, it still sells three times as many endoscopes as all its competitors combined, data compiled by Bloomberg show."

“The endoscope business is the jewel for Olympus,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo, which manages about $28 billion in assets. “The company is attractive to many companies who want to start or expand their medical-equipment business.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-20/olympus-37-less-than-medical-unit-seen-luring-bidders-real-m-a.html

 

[007peter]

It would be nice ( at least I think its a great marriage ) is for canon to buy Olympus Imaging division. Canon is too late to enter the mirrorless camera, and too late to become a dominate player. If and when canon enter in 2012, it will be playing a massive catchup against Panasonic, Olympus, and Sony.

Buying Olympus would instantly give Canon the #1 or #2 position that it wants.

 

[Jogger]

Nikon already has thrown its weight behind the 1 system. Sony is going strong with NEX. Canon probably has plans underway. Pentax has its Q system. Samsung is doing its own thing.

Panasonic makes teh most sense to buy up the imaging assets... Oly could be a sub-brand.. maybe for hipster retro PEN cameras.

"...camera revenue tumbled in the past three years, it still sells three times as many endoscopes as all its competitors combined, data compiled by Bloomberg show."

“The endoscope business is the jewel for Olympus,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo, which manages about $28 billion in assets. “The company is attractive to many companies who want to start or expand their medical-equipment business.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-20/olympus-37-less-than-medical-unit-seen-luring-bidders-real-m-a.html

 

[Sean Nelson]

I don't see why Panasonic would be interested in buying Olympus' camera division. They're already doing very well on their own, and it doesn't seem to me like Olympus has any important technology that they don't already have or could create.

And I think having just one M43 body manufacturer would be a bad thing for M43 users. Competition and diversity are good things. In fact the only potential motivation I can see for Panasonic to buy Olympus' imaging division is to eliminate competition. I hope they'd be smart enough to realize the the real competition is from Sony, etc., and that having a second M43 manufacturer makes the system more competitive against those companies, not less.

 

[Migaio]

I hope no one buys Olympus, but they manage to sort out this mess themselves. Unlike Pentax, Olympus has done a good job with its m43 PENs and they have a good future in the long term. I just don't want them to become the 'cheaper Canons' or anything else like this.

 

[WT21]

There is likely not enough float in the open market for one company to buy the whole of Oly, and even if they tried, the market would take note, and the shares would rise. If someone really wanted to do a takeover move, they'd have to offer a share price of X to the share holders at large, and if they offered the current price, it's likely the shareholders wouldn't take it.

This situation has to work it's way through first, and then it's likely the stock will probably go back up (not sure to what, but if the medical unit is truly worth more than the current price, it will rise to at least that level).

Also, on further reading, this is starting to sound more like management stupidity than corporate malfeasance. See http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/21/olympus-fee-idUKL3E7LL0BU20111021 . It just sounds like the managers were fools, more than thieves.

 

[tgutgu]

To let Canon abandon the m4/3 mount? No. The best buyer would be Panasonic, because it has interest to keep m4/3 alive.

Too late for Canon to enter mirrorless? Why? No, next year it would be the ideal time for Canon to do it. Mirrorless is now well known, Canon has already learnt, what went good and what bad, and can now chime in with its own strategy and brand reputation.

It would be nice ( at least I think its a great marriage ) is for canon to buy Olympus Imaging division. Canon is too late to enter the mirrorless camera, and too late to become a dominate player. If and when canon enter in 2012, it will be playing a massive catchup against Panasonic, Olympus, and Sony.

Buying Olympus would instantly give Canon the #1 or #2 position that it wants.

--
Thomas

 

[tgutgu]

I totally agree.

Panasonic has in the meanwhile a competent photographic division, which was able to design camera concepts superior to the traditional competition (GH2) and with pleasant designs (L1). They had a very attractive start into m4/3 with key lenses very early (7-14mm). Most importantly, they have a true interest to keep m4/3 alive, whereas others may just be interested in patents, people or know-how.

Nikon already has thrown its weight behind the 1 system. Sony is going strong with NEX. Canon probably has plans underway. Pentax has its Q system. Samsung is doing its own thing.

Panasonic makes teh most sense to buy up the imaging assets... Oly could be a sub-brand.. maybe for hipster retro PEN cameras.

"...camera revenue tumbled in the past three years, it still sells three times as many endoscopes as all its competitors combined, data compiled by Bloomberg show."

“The endoscope business is the jewel for Olympus,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo, which manages about $28 billion in assets. “The company is attractive to many companies who want to start or expand their medical-equipment business.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-20/olympus-37-less-than-medical-unit-seen-luring-bidders-real-m-a.html

--
Thomas

 

[tgutgu]

I don't see why Panasonic would be interested in buying Olympus' camera division. They're already doing very well on their own, and it doesn't seem to me like Olympus has any important technology that they don't already have or could create.

And I think having just one M43 body manufacturer would be a bad thing for M43 users.

True, but not necessarily. If others buy in, they may just get the patents, know-how or people and let the m4/3 mount die. This would be the worst scenario.

With its current m4/3 product line ranging from small (GF3, over RF (upcoming GX-1), DSLR-style (G3, GH2) to video (AG-AF100), Panasonic shows that even one vendor can keep enough diversity, even more than the two vendors together. (Olympus does not contribute to m4/3's diversity a lot, because it has only RF-style bodies in its portfolio, yet).

Competition and diversity are good things. In fact the only potential motivation I can see for Panasonic to buy Olympus' imaging division is to eliminate competition.

Or, maybe, to protect or keep control of the m4/3 mount? If Olympus is in such a bad trouble that it cannot survive itself the argument of eliminating competition is void anyway.

I hope they'd be smart enough to realize the the real competition is from Sony, etc., and that having a second M43 manufacturer makes the system more competitive against those companies, not less.

This depends completely, who the second manufacturer is and what its commitment to the m4/3 mount will be. The latter is mostly guaranteed with Panasonic.

--
Thomas

 

[Sean Nelson]

And I think having just one M43 body manufacturer would be a bad thing for M43 users.

True, but not necessarily. If others buy in, they may just get the patents, know-how or people and let the m4/3 mount die. This would be the worst scenario.

But it wouldn't be any worse than having Panasonic buy Oly. In both cases we're simply left with Panasonic as the only M43 body manufacturer.

 

[hindesite]

I think it would be worse if Canon bought Oly and used their patents to help with their own product development and hinder the m4/3 platform - there is almost certainly a lot of cross licensing between m4/3 members, although with agreements in place this might take some time to play out.

Canon are not likely to just join m4/3 - the product is too good, and might cannibalise their DSLR range, starting at the low end and then moving up. It is absolutely imperative for Canon to continue to promote the myth that for "serious" photography, a DSLR is required.

The implications for Panasonic, or Canon buying Oly are quite different.

 

[kscharf]

Why not Leica?

 

[bryanbrun]

I don't see why Panasonic would be interested in buying Olympus' camera division. They're already doing very well on their own, and it doesn't seem to me like Olympus has any important technology that they don't already have or could create.

And I think having just one M43 body manufacturer would be a bad thing for M43 users.

m4/3 is the only portion of the Olympus business that is making money while expanding into the DSLR market share.

No one is interested in buying Olympus and shedding the only part of the image division that is profitable.

But no sensible company is going to spend billions on a camera company right now anyway. Not until the market shake out from the increase in camera IQ from smart phones is determined.

 

[BigBarney]

"...camera revenue tumbled in the past three years, it still sells three times as many endoscopes as all its competitors combined, data compiled by Bloomberg show."

“The endoscope business is the jewel for Olympus,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo, which manages about $28 billion in assets. “The company is attractive to many companies who want to start or expand their medical-equipment business.”

Which just goes to show you that investment bankers are not always visionaries. There is every probability that physical endoscopy will be rendered obsolete in the near future by virtual endoscopy (google it) using spiral CT scanners.

My wife is a medical radiographer and where she practices they are already seeing this shift.

Think about it, would you prefer to have a tube poked into either end of your alimentary canal, possibly under sedation, or lie flat on a couch as the scanner performs a quick pass over you?

The real problem Olympus faces in the near future is how to protect this endoscopy market in the medium to long term. Given that the imaging division is already losing money the board of Olympus may well decide to sell it off to generate the funds to protect their current revenue earner in the medium to long term. If they do decide to sell their imaging division there could be three types of companies poised to acquire it:

• Panasonic, to expand their position in m43. If this were to happen I would hope they would keep the two brands as distinctive personalities as they are at present. They may have a right of first refusal in the existing m43 development agreement.

• acquisition by an established player in the camera business, possibly one of the big guns (pun intended). I hope this does not happen as it would probably lead to a loss of everything that has made Olympus a producer of such distinctive cameras and lenses.

• acquisition by a company in an area related to photography that wants to expand into a contiguous area. Software/hardware companies named after fruits with large cash mountains come to mind. Again this could risk the loss of Olympus's unique identity.

None of these three alternatives are appealing to us as amateur photographers, so let us hope that Olympus can somehow remain as an innovative and photographically distinctive digital camera company, particularly in the m43 business.

 

[Jun2]

Samsung wants to sell cameras, but without too much success. This will be a better entry to photo equipment business than what they have done so far.

 

[BigBarney]

Samsung wants to sell cameras, but without too much success. This will be a better entry to photo equipment business than what they have done so far.

... the US government deciding to sell Texas and California to Mexico to help it resolve its budget deficit! Cultural relations between Japan and Korea are still frosty as a result of past problems, so the idea of a South Korean company buying up a Japanese one is improbable but not impossible.

 

[Jun2]

Why is it improbable? Samsung has bigger market cap than Panasonic, Sony and Canon (about equals to the three combine). It's really not that big deal to buy a small company like Oly.

Samsung wants to sell cameras, but without too much success. This will be a better entry to photo equipment business than what they have done so far.

... the US government deciding to sell Texas and California to Mexico to help it resolve its budget deficit! Cultural relations between Japan and Korea are still frosty as a result of past problems, so the idea of a South Korean company buying up a Japanese one is improbable but not impossible.

 

[simen_s]

And why would they buy Olympus? It doesn't fit with their modus opurandi at all. They are busy making their own NX system, which although yet to make much headway in the market seems to be panning out okayish, certainly not so bad that they will simply abandon it.

I don't think Samsung is interested in buying up a Japanese rival to have a competing camera business.

 

[Lights]

I would like to see Oly's lens designers revolt and take over the company ;-)
--
http://www.pbase.com/madlights
http://barriolson.aminus3.com/

Like the Joker said: Why so serious?

 

[amalric]

I would like to see Oly's lens designers revolt and take over the company ;-)

Indeed.

BTW the acquistiion was in the endoscope division, the camera one might have nothing to do with it.

It would be sad and crazy to sell the latter, now that its products are selling like hotcakes, at least in Japan.

But it seems that we have plenty of enemies for the usual miserly schadenfreude.

Am.
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Photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amalric