Following the news that Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp has agreed to acquire Hitachi Ltd.’s diagnostic imaging business for approximately JPY179bn (US$1.64bn); 

Rohit Anand, Practice Head of Medical Devices at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Fujifilm, whose global revenues have declined from US$23.7bn in 2014 to US$21.9bn in 2019, is looking to counter slowdown in its traditional business operations and scale up its market share through synergies in diagnostic imaging market. On the other hand, Hitachi is looking to restructure its business and has been selling its non-core assets while buying overseas companies to expand digital businesses.

“The current deal follows a series of recent acquisitions by Fujifilm, which has already acquired Irvine Scientific Sales and IS Japan from JXTG Nippon in 2018 and Yokogawa Medical Solutions in 2019. Earlier this year, Fujifilm agreed to acquire German endoscopic instrument manufacturer medwork GmbH.

“Hitachi’s diagnostic imaging business will significantly strengthen Fujifilm’s product line with the inclusion of CT and MRI diagnostics imaging, medical IT, in-vitro diagnostics and endoscopy. Fujifilm will be able to expand its business in the global market through cross-selling, utilizing the extensive sales channels of both companies. The deal will further strengthen Fujifilm’s position in the diagnostic imaging market and will help the company to compete with three leading players GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers and Philips Healthcare.”