Originally Posted by Gooshin
i am under the impression that there is no more Pentax Corp
there is Hoya, who will create/develop cameras and sell them under the "pentax" name.
Sort of...
Technically, Pentax Corp. still exists. Hoya owns virtually all the shares. However, it has been announced that sometime in March, IIRC, Pentax Corp. would be merged into Hoya Corp. and Pentax Corp. would cease to exist as a separate corporate entity.
But, in essence, you're correct. From March onward, it will be strictly Hoya. Pentax will simply be a brand name owned by Hoya, the way Panasonic is a brand name owned by Matsushita Corp., or Chevrolet is a brand name owned by General Motors Corp.
Some have seen this as a sign of doom. I think just the opposite is true. If Hoya were truly interested only in Pentax' medical imaging systems, it would have been easier to sell the remnants of Pentax Corp. if it were a separate entity. In that case, it would be a simple stock transfer. But, hey, I'm no financial (or any other kind of) genius.
One question about the buyout/merger that I have not heard even asked is this: What is going to happen to Hoya's existing photographic business, such as filters? This has always been a tiny part of the overall Hoya empire. Perhaps they will fold that into the Pentax brand name.
Paul Noble