Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

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PeteM
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#2 Post by PeteM » Wed Aug 24, 2022 3:48 am

Off the top of my head, I don't recall a company that improved customer service after a private equity buyout. Things sometimes get better once they cut staff, trim overheads, maybe strip it of assets, polish up the numbers, and then flip it to someone who wants to be in business for the long haul. Danaher, which actually likes to run the companies it owns, has done reasonably well by Leica.

I suppose the good news is the hobbyists have been on their own for a long while - and thanks to their support wonderful Olympus scopes like the BH, BH2, BX, and AX series will likely keep working for decades to come.

Sabatini
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#3 Post by Sabatini » Wed Aug 24, 2022 6:05 pm

Ok... Great approach!
Thank you peteM!

Scarodactyl
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#4 Post by Scarodactyl » Wed Aug 24, 2022 6:44 pm

Didn't they already make the insane decision to rebrand as 'Evident'? In a time when Chinese factories are making better and better copies of their products which are being sold under dozens of new brands becoming a new brand yourself seems like a terrible idea.

Tom Jones
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#5 Post by Tom Jones » Wed Aug 24, 2022 7:05 pm

Silly me, I just thought Evident was just a stupid corporate name change. I hadn't heard about the company being up for sale.

PeteM's right. These things rarely go well for anyone other than the private equity firm. I'm betting customer service gets cut, middle management gets cut, R&D gets cut, offerings get reduced, quality goes down, and prices go up. Seems Evident to me, anyway.

I'm sure glad I don't need any new, cutting edge instrumentation. :cry:

Dubious
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#6 Post by Dubious » Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:06 am

Scarodactyl wrote:
Wed Aug 24, 2022 6:44 pm
Didn't they already make the insane decision to rebrand as 'Evident'? In a time when Chinese factories are making better and better copies of their products which are being sold under dozens of new brands becoming a new brand yourself seems like a terrible idea.
Seems to be true:

"Olympus Scientific Solutions is now Evident, but our commitment to creating advanced life science and industrial solutions that help make the world safer and healthier is unchanged."

https://www.evidentscientific.com/en/

But with the microscope division now to be spun off entirely, I would expect the new owner to insist on the right to go on using "Olympus" as the brand name. "Evident" has no recognition at all and probably would be confused with upstart Chinese makers. But, we'll see; companies sometimes make marketing decisions that make little sense...

Greg Howald
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#7 Post by Greg Howald » Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:47 am

It reminds of the disaster Coca Cola brought upon itself when it changed its flavor. It's possible that the name for microscopes will not change but other things are bound to.
I think it is a huge mistake if for no other reason than the company itself introduces doubt.

apochronaut
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#8 Post by apochronaut » Thu Aug 25, 2022 1:58 pm

There is always a reason behind a name change. No doubt, being branded as a company that had to resort to paying over 600 million in bribes to sell it's equipment has not sat well with their potential customer base or their shareholders and the 646 million in fines associated with that as recently as 2016 probably didn't emerge from a bottomless piggy bank.
Unfortunately there are such companies, slobbering and clawing for every dollar and some secretly rise to the top, especially when the head office is in a country that exists itself in complete denial of of the immorality of it's actions. Olympus had to go.

Dubious
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Re: Olympus nearing deal to sell microscope unit for more than US$2 billion: Sources

#9 Post by Dubious » Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:29 pm

In much of the world, paying bribes is just a cost of doing business and doesn't carry a lot of moral stigma. Whatever its shortcomings as a company, Olympus was/is a recognized name for optical quality, including in microscopes. If I were running the microscope division, I would want to keep that; but I'm sure there are other factors at play.

The branding issue reminds me of how that, a few years back, Ford renamed its large Five Hundred sedan the "Ford Taurus." Ford had just stopped making the midsized Ford Taurus, and the CEO explained that the rebranding would capitalize on the name recognition of the Taurus. Well, the Taurus, having been in production for many years before being discontinued, had name recognition all right--as a somewhat average midsized car--while the Five Hundred was a more upscale, large sedan. Never made any sense to me.

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