Yesterday, a bombshell report from Diamond Online claimed that Sony had proposed an offer to acquire all the shares in Tamron. And today, Tamron issued an official statement to confirm that it has received a “non-binding proposal” from the consumer tech giant to make the optical manufacturer a “wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sony Group”.
Tamron says that it has put together a “special committee” to weigh up its options, but that currently public disclosure on any matter is not required.
Sony and Tamron’s long-standing relationship
While the news has certainly come out of the blue, it’s not exactly surprising that Sony would express interest in acquiring Tamron. The global consumer electronics conglomerate has been Tamron’s largest shareholder for years, with a percentage that rose to 15.35% in December of last year.
But a couple of weeks ago, Digital Camera Life reported that Sony was facing competition from the second-largest shareholder, Effissimo Capital Management, which increased its stake to 17.38% in April.
Having a business partner like Sony is something of a safety net for Tamron, so Effissimo’s aggressive play isn’t necessarily a welcome one. And given the timing, it’s certainly possible that losing its majority stake was the catalyst for Sony’s proposal.
What could Sony’s proposal mean?
Tamron hasn’t revealed any details beyond confirming Sony’s proposal. However, according to the Diamond Online report, this could mean a ¥200 billion offer, which equates to roughly $1.2 billion / £916.4 million / AU$1.75 billion / CA$1.72 billion.
And there’s another angle to this. If Sony does indeed acquire Tamron, what happens to the various mounts for which the company makes optics – could we see a future where Tamron is exclusive to E-mount?
In my opinion, I don’t think Sony will scupper lens sales for Nikon Z, Canon RF and Fujifilm X by limiting mounts. After all, it wouldn’t be the largest global supplier of image sensors if it only supplied its own cameras.
Digital Camera World will be monitoring the Tamron and Sony situation carefully. The story continues…
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