Fujifilm to buy sonosite for $1 billion to expand in ultrasound

Fujifilm Holdings Corp. agreed to buy SonoSite Inc. for about $995 million, including debt owed to note holders, expanding its range of imaging products used in medicine.

Fujifilm, Japan’s only maker of photographic film, will pay $54 a share in cash for Bothell, Washington-based SonoSite, the companies said in a statement today. The tender offer, which opens next month, is 28 percent more than SonoSite’s closing price of $42.24 in Nasdaq trading yesterday.

The acquisition will accelerate Tokyo-based Fujifilm’s expansion into health care as it seeks to diversify away from cameras and film. SonoSite is the world leader in bedside and point-of-care ultrasound with a distribution network covering more than 100 countries, the companies said. It specializes in portable devices used in more than 20 clinical specialties.

“This transaction significantly accelerates Fujifilm’s full-scale entry into the fast-growing hand-carried, ultrasound equipment market,” Fujifilm President Shigetaka Komori said in the statement.

SonoSite had net income of $10 million from sales of $275 million last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The announcement was made after markets in Tokyo closed. Fujifilm fell 2.2 percent to 1,841 yen at the close of Tokyo trading today.