February 28, 2011
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Fujifilm, which has been diversifying into healthcare, Monday said it would buy US and British biopharmaceutical companies from America's Merck for a reported half a billion dollars.
The Japanese film and camera maker said that it would buy all shares of Diosynth RTP Inc. of the United States and of Britain's MSD Biologics Ltd. from Merck, without disclosing the purchase price.
The Nikkei business daily said Fujifilm had agreed to pay about 40 billion yen ($490 million) for the two arms of the Merck BioManufacturing Network.
The US and British companies have been developing biotechnology-based medical products and technologies against cancer and other diseases.
"This acquisition provides an important addition to our pharmaceutical business," Fujifilm CEO Shigetaka Komori said in a statement.