Hoya Acquires Pentax for $770 Million

Hoya just announced that it has acquired Pentax for 91 billion yen. That's 770 million USD if you don't have a conversion chart handy.

Hoya is looking for technology and market-share in the medical industry and other fields. Pentax holds many technology patents including medical instrument optics. The transition should be completed by late 2007 with Pentax one business unit under the Hoya umbrella.

What does it mean for photographers? It means that Pentax pockets are now a lot deeper and the probability of them remaining a big player in the photo imaging industry and optics business is pretty solid.

You may know Hoya as a manufacturer of high-quality photo filters, but, their hands are in a lot more than that. Add to it finely crafted digital SLRs.