Canon To Buy Toshiba Medical For Around $6.2 Billion: Nikkei

Japan's Canon Inc. is set to buy Toshiba Corp.'s medical equipment unit for 700 billion yen ($6.2 billion), beating rival Fujifilm Holdings Corp. in a hotly contested auction, the Nikkei news agency said Wednesday.

The conglomerate put Toshiba Medical Systems Corp. on the block to help fund restructuring after a $1.3 billion accounting scandal, attracting a bevy of suitors, particularly Japanese imaging companies whose products range from cameras and copiers to diagnostic devices.

Toshiba has given Canon until March 18 to reach a definitive purchase agreement to buy its medical systems assets, Toshiba said.

Toshiba Medical, the world's second-largest manufacturer of CT scan machines, also makes X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging systems. It had revenue of 405.6 billion yen in the past financial year.

The second-round of bidding also included Konica Minolta Inc. which had teamed up with European buyout firm Permira, a source familiar with the matter said earlier.