Fujifilm eyes purchase of Hitachi’s imaging business for $1.5B
Fujifilm is reportedly eyeing a purchase of fellow Tokyo-based Hitachi’s diagnostic imaging line of services in what could be a major shakeup for the industry.
The photocopier and camera business has aimed to build its medical offerings in recent years to counter stagnation in its traditional business lines.
The deal would weigh in at more than $1.5 billion, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources.
Fujifilm hopes to add scale to better compete the with the top global players in imaging—Siemens, GE Healthcare, Philips and Canon as the Nikkei Asian Review and others have noted. The company has already added more products recently through acquisition, including endoscopy, ultrasound and x-ray. Acquiring Hitachi’s offerings would add scale to Fujifilm’s healthcare assets with the addition of CT and MRI, allowing it to better compete with the top global players in imaging.
Company officials are expected to weigh the deal at board meetings on Wednesday. Hitachi and Fujifilm did not immediately respond to a Radiology Business request for comment Tuesday afternoon, however, a spokeswoman for the latter confirmed to Reuters that Fujifilm is exploring the deal.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.