SonoSite to be purchased by Fujifilm

SonoSite is to be acquired by electronics company Fujifilm in a $995 million (639.76 million pounds) deal that will help to position the business for major growth in future.

The transaction has been approved by both companies' board of directors and will see SonoSite becoming a wholly-owned Fujifilm subsidiary, operating under its current management team.

This merger will bring together Fujifilm's expertise in high-quality imaging technologies and SonoSite's proven point-of-care expertise and miniaturisation capabilities, thus strengthening its market position while accelerating the development of new products.

Both companies have expressed confidence that the deal will ultimately result in improved care quality for patients by driving innovation in the medical technology sector.

"We are very excited to be partnering with Fujifilm, as it will enable us to significantly accelerate our international business and product development efforts and respond to the fast-evolving needs of physicians," said SonoSite president and chief executive officer Kevin Goodwin.

This comes after the company expanded its product range last month with the launch of the innovative high-performance ultrasound tool Edge.