We are pleased to announce that NK Relations (Tokyo, Japan), a wholly owned subsidiary of Noritsu Koki, has reached a stock purchase agreement with Mr. Toshihiko Sato (Hereinafter Mr. Sato), who is the president and the largest stockholder of Doctor Net Inc. (Ibaraki, Japan. Herinafter Doctor Net), in which NK Relations will acquire 100% of Mr. Satos share of stocks in the company.
Backed by Doctor Net, this agreement will enable the Noritsu Group to enter the remote medical care market.
NK Relations was established in April 2009 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Noritsu Koki for the purpose of researching, analyzing and making direct investments in new businesses.
Doctor Net is a remote medical care provider established in February 2002 (Began operations in January 1995) for the purpose of using medical images to make medical care more efficient and provide information more smoothly, and by so doing build an ideal medical system for medical institutions, medical consumers, and doctors and other people engaged in medicine. Doctor Net has engaged in provision of support for remote image diagnoses since the dawn of the market, and is a leading company in this field. It currently has 131 contracted radiology specialists and 199 contracted medical facilities. Doctor Net also helps promote quick production of digital medical images through Doctor-PACS, which is a Doctor Net product.
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Noritsu Koki is a leading company in the field of minilabs (photo processing equipment) and other photo equipment. We continually adapt to our customers needs and our products are used in over 180 countries and territories throughout the world. We have contributed a great deal to the spread and development of photography, and our products bring the joy of photos to countless consumers. At PMA 2010 (*1) held in February in Anaheim, California , Noritsus latest product, the D1005, received the DIMA(*2) Innovative Digital Product Award, and the development of this exciting product, which employs Noritsu proprietary technology, has helped the Noritsu brand to become even more widely recognized in the global market. In recent years, Noritsu Koki has not done an adequate job of keeping up with the dramatic change in consumer attitudes towards the imaging market, which consequently has pushed Noritsu Koki into a harsh operating environment. However we have made great efforts to quickly rebuild our imaging business, which is our core business, and we are on the right course to realize improved results for our imaging business in fiscal year 2010 (ending March 31, 2011).
Noritsu has relied heavily on its imaging business since the birth of the company and it still
plays an important roll, but as the market is changing, we also recognize the fact that
breaking away from this unitary business structure as quickly as possible and diversifying
are necessary steps for improving our profitability and achieving future growth.
With this in mind, we consider this fiscal year to be a year of rebirth for Noritsu Koki, as we are beginning a completely new stage in our business, and we have adopted a new brand statement face the NEXT(*3) to convey the concept that we will focus our efforts on developing and acquiring new businesses outside of the imaging field that will be pillars for our company to stand on. The fields of Medical services, Environment and Food will be positioned as our fields of future growth, and we will perform market analysis in these areas as we look for opportunities to acquire or invest in companies that enable us to use the technology and the global network we have developed, which has enabled us to excel in areas like image processing, equipment manufacturing, quality control, sales and after-sales service.
In this respect, Noritsu Kokis desire to develop our medical business line and Mr. Satos desire to further grow Doctor Net through business resource expansion in the remote medical care market, which is poised for growth and expansion, helped provide common ground, and enabled the agreement to be made. Doctor Net will become a new pillar for us in the medical field, and we will support the growth of Doctor Net by providing image processing technology and onsite services which we have cultivated over the years, and we believe that this in turn will lead to growth and expansion of the Noritsu group.
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