Olympus acquires UK medical devices firm

Source: ExecUK

Date :20/11/2007 10:17:12

Olympus, the Japanese digital camera group, said yesterday that it is to acquire UK medical devices firm, Gyrus Group for £926 million, part of its bid to become a global leader in medical devices.

Olympus will pay 630 pence for each share in Gyrus, which specialises in visualisation equipment that is used in keyhole surgical procedures, which is at a 58 percent premium to the company’s closing price on Friday.

The deal is the largest undertaken by Olympus, who has been repositioning itself gradually as a specialist in medical equipment. Although the Japanese company is traditionally associated with its single-lens reflex and digital cameras, it is the world’s leading maker of endoscopes with a 70 per cent global market share.

Opportunity

The deal still requires approval from Gyrus shareholders and antitrust authorities in the UK and the US where both companies have a sizeable market share.

While stressing that the company had not planned to put itself up for sale, Brian Steer, chairman of Gyrus said that there were clear synergies which, combined with the substantial premium price, presented an “outstanding opportunity” for shareholders.

Capabilities

Analysts said that the agreed deal, which was announced in Tokyo, will alter significantly the strategic direction of Olympus amid intensifying competition in its main business line of digital cameras.

"The combination of technological capabilities will further enhance product systems which enable surgeons to perform safer and more effective surgical procedures with better patient outcomes," Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, president of Olympus said.

At present, medical equipment sales by Olympus represent about 29 percent of total sales, however the combined company is expected to have medical-device sales of 360 billion yen ($3.25 billion), according to Olympus.

November 20, 2007