A new report in a Japanese newspaper has listed Sony as one of the potential suitors for the medical business of beleaguered Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba.
The story in Nikkei Asian Review listed Sony and Fujifilm Holdings among the bidders for Toshiba Medical Systems; it also mentioned Hitachi, Canon, GE Healthcare, and Samsung as potential suitors. A previous article in December also mentioned Fuji as a possible buyer.
Toshiba plans to sell at least a 51% stake in its medical business as it struggles to cope with a cash crunch brought on by an accounting scandal that broke in 2015. The Nikkei Asian Review article said that bidding for the division was expected to begin in early February, followed by a second round after the field was narrowed to two or three candidates. A buyer is expected to be chosen by March.
Ironically, Toshiba Medical Systems is the only one of the company's core businesses that is expected to show an operating profit for fiscal 2015, according to the story. It has over a 10% share of the global business for medical imaging equipment, and produced revenues of about $3.4 billion, according to the article.
