Sony’s new 50 million yen ($535,000) medical imaging business with Olympus will launch April 16 after the company announced that the joint venture had received the necessary regulatory approvals.
Last week Sony revealed that the business — which will align the two companies’ expertise in medical fields — had been delayed while waiting on approval processes, and it didn’t have to wait long before the loose ends were tied up.
The deal was first announced back in September 2012 following months of speculation about a partnership between the two companies. The deal agreed also saw Sony take an 11 percent share in the camera maker for 50 billion yen ($644 million).
“Olympus and Sony continue to work together with the goal of creating ground-breaking products and solutions by combining their respective technologies and know-how through the medical business venture,” the announcement made today read.
While the coming-together is primarily focused on the medical industry niche, the duo have also paired up on lens and optical technologies. The firms will combine their camera-led technologies, bringing Sony’s know-how — notably in digital imaging technology — to Olympus’s hardware.
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Speaking back in September, Sony chief Kazuo Hirai said of the deal:
As part of our strategic initiatives announced in April 2012, at Sony we are aggressively pursuing the growth of our medical business.
We believe that [working with Olympus] we will be able to create highly innovative and competitive products and generate new business opportunities in surgical endoscopes and other related areas where significant future growth is anticipated.
The past twelve months have been turbulent times for Sony as it has streamlined its business with a series of initiatives. Last year saw it decouple from handset partner Ericsson and announce 10,000 lay-offs. This year to date, it has sold office buildings in New York (for $1.1 billion) and Tokyo (for $1.2 billion), and offloaded its 13 percent share in games firm DeNA for $476 million.
Sony showed some progress when it posted $20.84 billion in revenue alongside a $115 million net loss for its fiscal Q3 results, but it is still yet to turn things around successfully.
Image David Becker/Getty Images
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