[NaClH2O]

Found these links on the other board. It looks like the honeymoon is over between Pentax and Hoya.
From Reuters financial:
Pentax stock jumps, board split on Hoya merger | Technology, Media & Telecom | Reuters

another link:
Hoya set to make tender offer for Pentax: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

NaCl(looks like all is not hunkydory in Pentax Land)H2O

Found these links on the other board. It looks like the honeymoon is over between Pentax and Hoya.
From Reuters financial:
Pentax stock jumps, board split on Hoya merger | Technology, Media & Telecom | Reuters

another link:
Hoya set to make tender offer for Pentax: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

NaCl(looks like all is not hunkydory in Pentax Land)H2O

Seems the stockholders at Pentax aren't happy with the stock exchange ratio.

I'm betting that Hoya will absord Pentax in one way or another.

There is nothing on either the Pentax or Hoya websites concerning this issue.

Ed

[NaClH2O]

Seems the stockholders at Pentax aren't happy with the stock exchange ratio.

I'm betting that Hoya will absord Pentax in one way or another.

There is nothing on either the Pentax or Hoya websites concerning this issue.

Ed

I'll get my sister's take on it tomorrow. She is a high level senior securities analysist specializing in Pacific rim countries. She just got back from vacation today, I'll give her a day to get settled and then as for her input. She had said the initial merger announcement was good news for Pentax but that Hoya was getting a "huge bargin". Seems like the senior shareholders agree.

NaCl(but I agree that Hoya wants Pentax and has the money to get it)H2O

[Cideway]

NaCl(but I agree that Hoya wants Pentax and has the money to get it)H2O

And if you know your recent Australian history you'd know that Lion Nathan had enough money but couldn't get their hands on the prize. If enough of the shareholders say no, then no take over is posible.

(In case you don't know your Australian history, in 2005 a brewer called Lion Nathan tried to buy out another Independent Australian Brewery, Coopers, the merger failed)

[NaClH2O]

I do not know what the Japanese corporate regulations are, but here in the states, if you have enough money, you can always opt for a "hostile takeover" From what I understand, Hoya definitely has enough cash on hand to do that.

NaCl(whether that is legal in Japan is a different story)H2O

[FotoPete]

NEWS! - Hoya raises Pentax offer

I just read the news brief from Imaging Resource after reading their K10D review haha...and Hooray for PENTAX for at least trying to keep the company going.

The article says how the board members rejected the offer and plan to reject a new offer by Hoya. Perhaps this K10D is working well in restoring Pentax's former glory.

[Bori]

This is getting more interesting by the day. Seems like Pentax will try to prevent this merger or acquisition. I read somewhere they may even employ the "poison pill" strategy.

They seem to be upset over the distrust of the president and the plan from the start. Plus the idea of Hoya selling off the camera division.

asahi.com : Pentax chief to resign over Hoya merger rift - ENGLISH

[*isteve]

I do not know what the Japanese corporate regulations are, but here in the states, if you have enough money, you can always opt for a "hostile takeover" From what I understand, Hoya definitely has enough cash on hand to do that.

NaCl(whether that is legal in Japan is a different story)H2O

It is legal in Japan. However a takeover is only hostile if initially rejected by the board of Pentax. The shareholders may then still agree to the takeover despite the boards feelings, and where many shareholders are companies and banks, this can happen.

However the shareholders still have to agree to the takeover.

In hostile takeovers, the price paid is usually higher (to sweeten the shareholders against the board) and the buyer cannot perform a full due dilligence of the other companys financial affairs and assets, so it is a lot riskier and seldom backed or approved by banks. For some shareholders this can be a godsend. However I think Hoya are well aware of Pentax's situation.

Although Sparx Asset Management are a large shareholder in Pentax, and have publicly stated their belief that Pentax should withdraw from the camera busienss, they are not the only shareholder nor are they the largest. Other shareholders may have decided that the camera business is worth fighting for, but I suspect the real issue is the price. They will certainly reject any offer if they think someone else would offer more for the whole company or for the split (eg Hoya buy Medical and Samsung buy Camera).

At the end of the day, Pentax Camera division is worth a great deal to the right investor, but Hoya dont like high risk businesses and would almost certainly have sold it on to finance their buyout.

I just hope that in all this mess Pentax continues to be a brand name on the front of some great cameras for many years to come, but since the sad demise of Minolta who knows?

[macdaddy]

According to several business magazines, Watanuki, who takes over from the old president, will do a press conference at 9 am GMT today to talk about it. It says, though, that he and 6 of the 8 board members are against the merger partly because of Hoya's aggressive management style.
I don't know enough about either company to make an informed statement, but my gut feeling is that Pentax may still get absorbed, as Hoya is upping the offer and that may cause the two major investors, Sparx and Fidelity to pressure the company to accept. If that happens, will Hoya be looking for the quick profits and then dump the camera division as they threatened to do in December? And if THAT happens, what happens to us as Pentaxians? I'd love to hear Ned Bunnell weigh in on this if he would!
Rob W

[Zubati Kit]

looks a lot better today, I think that the odds are on that the merger is off!

good for us, as Hoya didn't seem to friendly to camera division, and the pentax valuation at the moment is still quite low, so it might have been well worth for Hoya to spend for medical part of the business only and dump the imaging...

not sure yet what is the future, but I have a feeling if the future is with Hoya that Pentax imaging is in trouble like Minolta... and that was allegedly merger of equals there, while here it is clearly not the case.

I am sure if Minolta reorganized and focused, it would still be one of the major players in DSLR/digicam market too with Nikon/Canon market shares slightly less bloated and Sony market share non existant. Ah well we will see, interesting times indeed.