[micromacro]

The acquirer, Japan Industrial Partners, are a Japanese private equity fund specialising in restructuring / turnaround situations. They buy loss-making businesses, strive to make them profitable and, once done, resell them to corporate acquirers.

If take a closer look, JIP is technically a Japanese company, which manages 7 private funds registered in Cayman Islands and Ireland. Japan Industrial Partners - Fund and Executive Details

[bobbotron]

I think I'll try to get my hands on a EM 5mkII soon. I've always thought these were brilliant small cameras. I like the smaller m43 stuff. A friend of mine has their premium lenses. Happy for him, but I've always thought if you're going to buy premium lenses, better to step up to a larger sensor. A EM 5 with a compact lens is a great travel / compact package.

[monochrome]

If take a closer look, JIP is technically a Japanese company, which manages 7 private funds registered in Cayman Islands and Ireland. Japan Industrial Partners - Fund and Executive Details

That is a typical structure for a PE fund. Each “Private Fund” typically represents the separate ownership interest of an underlying company. Such a structure prevents a negative financial outcome of an individual investment from impinging on the assets of the others.

[Mistral75]

If take a closer look, JIP is technically a Japanese company, which manages 7 private funds registered in Cayman Islands and Ireland. Japan Industrial Partners - Fund and Executive Details

Indeed, the management company is Japanese (that's what matters) and the funds it manages are registered where tax laws are most favourable.

Interesting piece of information: JIP are part of the Sumitomo Mitsui keiretsu (Mizuho Securities have a stake in the management company) like Fujifilm, Olympus and Sony. They relieved Olympus from their mobile phone business, Sony from their PC business and soon Olympus from their imaging business. One big family...

[Mistral75]

That is a typical structure for a PE fund. Each “Private Fund” typically represents the separate ownership interest of an underlying company. Such a structure prevents a negative financial outcome of an individual investment from impinging on the assets of the others.

Er... not exactly. Each private equity fund is an entity, in this case duly registered by the SEC, that gathers money that has been raised from a specific pool of investors and is then invested according to the investment rules prepared by the management company and agreed upon by said investors.

Not to be mistaken with the ad hoc legal entities set up to invest in the underlying companies (one entity for each company).

[micromacro]

Indeed, the management company is Japanese (that's what matters) and the funds it manages are registered where tax laws are most favourable.

Interesting piece of information: JIP are part of the Sumitomo Mitsui keiretsu (Mizuho Securities have a stake in the management company) like Fujifilm, Olympus and Sony. They relieved Olympus from their mobile phone business, Sony from their PC business and soon Olympus from their imaging business. One big family...

Does that mean that the brands are managed now by the one global set of the same beneficiaries like the majority of famous fashion brands?

What the destiny for the Olympus brand, I'd like to know. Will they re-sell the imaging business, or just shut it off?

[monochrome]

Er... not exactly. Each private equity fund is an entity, in this case duly registered by the SEC, that gathers money that has been raised from a specific pool of investors and is then invested according to the investment rules prepared by the management company and agreed upon by said investors.

Not to be mistaken with the ad hoc legal entities set up to invest in the underlying companies (one entity for each company).

JIP apparently operates seven separate PE funds under its Partnership umbrella. This is pretty typical, is it not?

Private Funds Managed(7):
Manaslu Fund Ii Lp ,
Manaslu Fund Lp ,
Shepherds Hill Capital Partners ,
Shepherds Hill Fund Ii Lp ,
Sonora Fund Ii Lp ,
Sonora Fund Lp ,
Westmount Outremont Designated Activity Company

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Last edited by monochrome; 06-28-2020 at 10:18 AM.

[Mistral75]

^ Yes it is pretty typical. However these PE funds are each invested in several companies .

Typically Manaslu would have been raised from a pool of investors and Manaslu II would have been its successor in time, raised more or less from the same pool of investors with more or less the same investment guidelines. Same with Sonora and Sonora II as well as Shepherds Hill and Shepherds Hill II.

[Mistral75]

Does that mean that the brands are managed now by the one global set of the same beneficiaries like the majority of famous fashion brands?

(...)

To better understand the concept of keiretsus, heirs of pre-WWII zaibatsus:

Zaibatsu - Wikipedia

Keiretsu - Wikipedia

(...)

What the destiny for the Olympus brand, I'd like to know. Will they re-sell the imaging business, or just shut it off?

That's the $100m question. I presume JIP's plan is to re-sell the imaging business (which then won't bear the Olympus name any more) to a corporate buyer, once trimmed down (R&D, manufacturing, after-sales service and more contracted to third parties, sales targetting a few countries only, commercial subsidiaries closed down in favour of online sales,...) and profitable.

That would be plan A. If plan A fails because the business remains loss making or doesn't attract any interest, they would shift to plan B in due course and sell the assets bits by bits.

[texandrews]

That's the $100m question. I presume JIP's plan is to re-sell the imaging business (which then won't bear the Olympus name any more) to a corporate buyer, once trimmed down (R&D, manufacturing, after-sales service and more contracted to third parties, sales targetting a few countries only, commercial subsidiaries closed down in favour of online sales,...)

So....who? Chinese firm? Seems like the only possibility.

and profitable.

big reach. Wonder if that would be entirely necessary, though....

That would be plan A. If plan A fails because the business remains loss making or doesn't attract any interest, they would shift to plan B in due course and sell the assets bits by bits.

I'm trying to figure out what assets would be attractive to whom....

[Mistral75]

(...)

I'm trying to figure out what assets would be attractive to whom....

Some brands, mainly: Zuiko for instance. There are Chinese P&S cameras with such brand names as Bell + Howell, Coleman Optics, Minolta, Polaroid, Praktica, Rollei or Yashica.

Google JMM Lee Properties, LLC or Elite Brands Inc. for instance.

[Madaboutpix]

Hm, I know it's not the most pious thing to suggest - as it presumes that there is no reasonable future for highend Olympus or whatever-else-labelled product - but maybe Ricoh could try to attract at least some of the remarkable engineering and design talent that will be on the move pretty soon (if it isn't already).

Some hallmark Olympus features like in-body focus stacking, or the expertise they had with regard to image stabilization, must be worth saving and would, at least in my layman's understanding, complement existing Pentax technologies rather well.

[sculptor666]

Hm, I know it's not the most pious thing to suggest - as it presumes that there is no reasonable future for highend Olympus or whatever-else-labelled product - but maybe Ricoh could try to attract at least some of the remarkable engineering and design talent that will be on the move pretty soon (if it isn't already).

Some hallmark Olympus features like in-body focus stacking, or the expertise they had with regard to image stabilization, must be worth saving and would, at least in my layman's understanding, complement existing Pentax technologies rather well.

i'm assuming people like that have non competitive clauses, but it's a good idea.

[texandrews]

Some brands, mainly: Zuiko for instance. There are Chinese P&S cameras with such brand names as Bell + Howell, Coleman Optics, Minolta, Polaroid, Praktica, Rollei or Yashica.

Google JMM Lee Properties, LLC or Elite Brands Inc. for instance.

Olympus is the only brand name I think the rubes would recognize--Zuiko would only trigger a "huh?". Cognoscenti amateurs/enthusiasts would not be fooled by "Zuiko" slapped on anything, any more than they were about the others. So, again, what assets? Machinery...the lens machinery certainly might be useful. I think the Zuiko lens machinery is pretty up to date (last time I looked).

[Mistral75]

^ Machinery? It would be the first time JIP would be interested in production or production tools.

Usually they outsource production and they should do so this time again since Olympus cameras and lenses are manufactured in the huge multi-products, multi-business (Medical + Scientific + Imaging) factory Olympus have in Vietnam.

Apart from inventories, most assets to be transferred will be intangible, I presume.