A closing date is finally set for Fujifilm’s $1 billion-plus purchase of rival Hitachi’s imaging assets, the two Tokyo companies announced on Thursday.
Both had publicly discussed the transaction as far back as December 2019. But the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on the blockbuster deal, which is finally resurfacing more than a year after the original announcement.
In anticipation of the sale, Hitachi has split off its imaging line—which includes electronic health records, CT, MR, x-ray and ultrasound systems—into a separate business. Following the deal, the firm will continue operating in the healthcare space with a focus on in-vitro diagnostics, regenerative medicine, and health IT, among other products.
Hitachi said it expects to collect more than $1 billion (USD) in proceeds from the sale, shy of the $1.6 billion discussed back in December 2019. The two hope to close the agreement on March 31. In its own announcement, Fujifilm said it believes the acquisition will help the firm “establish a solid business foundation to become a world's leading healthcare company.”
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.