SonoSite Sold to FujiFilm for Nearly $1B

Portable ultrasound maker SonoSite is being acquired by Japan’s Fujifilm for just under $1 billion. SonoSite will remain based in Bothell, WA, under its current leadership team, the companies said in a joint announcement.

The $995 million price represents a cash offer to purchase all SonoSite (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SONO]]) shares for $54 each, a 50 percent premium on the average closing stock price for the past three months. The price also includes payments in connection with SonoSite’s convertible debt. The companies’ boards have already approved the deal.

In the announcement, SonoSite President and CEO Kevin Goodwin said joining Fujifilm “will enable us to significantly accelerate our international business and product development efforts, and respond to the fast-evolving needs of physicians around the world.”

SonoSite was itself an acquirer last year, paying $71 million for Toronto-based Visualsonics, whose initial market was in preclinical biology labs. At the time of the deal, SonoSite said the ultrasound market for preclinical research was estimated to be worth $350 million with projected double digit annual growth rates.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.