Canon to buy Toshiba Medical for US$6.2b

A man walks past a Canon logo in Tokyo, Japan, October 27, 2015. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/Files

TOKYO: Japan's Canon Inc is set to buy Toshiba Corp's medical equipment unit for 700 billion yen (US$6.2 billion), beating rival Fujifilm Holdings Corp  in a hotly contested auction, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

The conglomerate put Toshiba Medical Systems Corp on the block to help fund restructuring after a US$1.3 billion accounting scandal, attracting a bevy of suitors, particularly Japanese imaging companies whose products range from cameras and copiers to diagnostic devices.

Toshiba Medical, the world's second-largest manufacturer of CT scan machines, also makes X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. It had revenue of 405.6 billion yen in the past financial year.

The second-round of bidding also included Konica Minolta Inc, which had teamed up with European buyout firm Permira, a source familiar with the matter said earlier.

Toshiba said it would be making an announcement shortly. - Reuters