Tamron has officially disclosed that they have received a non-binding proposal from Sony Corporation in relation to a takeover bid.
Here is what Tamron said in their official statement: “It is true that we have received a non-binding proposal from Sony Corporation regarding the implementation of a series of transactions aimed at making our company a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sony Group, and that, in response to this, we have established a special committee to consider various options for enhancing corporate value, however, there are no matters requiring disclosure at this stage.
What is clear is that Tamron hasn’t made an outright rejection of the offer and told Sony to take a long walk off a short plank. Tamron has a market capitalisation of just under 200 billion yen ($1,223,336,613.91 (one billion two hundred twenty-three million three hundred thirty-six thousand six hundred thirteen US dollars & 91 cents), and Sony already holds a 15 per cent stake in the company. Given Sony’s financial position, and the fact that they have a projected operating profit of 1.5 trillion yen, it is a real possibility that Tamron gets acquired by Sony.
The question would be, would Tamron still exist as its own brand or would all of its R&D and patents get rolled over into Sony-branded products?
