[*isteve]

Originally Posted by stewart_photo

Well, since the letter came from Pentax Corporation, obviously Nobuaki Tanishima wrote it, Andreas. As is routine practice, Ned Bunnell, head of the imaging subdivision of Pentax USA solely, simply signed onto the letter afterwards.

What surprises me is how long the entire merger process is taking. The two companies apparently came to an agreement some time ago, but the merger will not become effective until the end of March next year (no merger of the two companies until then), with no date given for ultimately completing the merger.

That merger date obviously raises doubts about recent claims on the internet, here and elsewhere, concerning how much the two companies are currently working together on pending products. Since the two companies have not yet merged, it seems unlikely any significant exchange of product development finances or cooperation exists at this moment prior to the merger.

stewart

No-one said that they cooperated only that Hoya had a good look at the Pentax strategy and gave the green light for the new SLR bodies and lenses. Everything else was stated as an intent.