| Photo: Mitchell Clark |
It seems like there are some big changes going on at OM System. This week, the company announced "a change in its shareholder structure," resulting in its president and CEO becoming the "principal shareholder of the Company." At the same time, there appears to have been a leadership shakeup at Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), the private equity firm that (formerly?) owned OM Digital Solutions (OMDS).
Neither press release from either company directly states that OM System's ownership moved from JIP to Shigemi Sugimoto, OMDS' CEO – JIP's press release doesn't mention OM System at all. From the outside, one possible explanation is that JIP reduced its stake to the point where Sugimoto effectively has control of the company. However, neither company has disclosed the exact ownership structure.
A brief history of OM System's corporate ownership (I promise it won't be as boring as it sounds): OM Digital Solutions used to be Olympus' imaging division, but was handed over to Japan Industrial Partners Inc. (JIP) in 2021. While OMDS licensed the Olympus name for some of its cameras, lenses and accessories, it has since removed it from most of its products, which now bear the "OM System" logo.
Given that both OMDS and JIP are private, there isn't necessarily a paper trail of what transactions occurred. However, Olympus said the brand had 36 billion yen in capital when it sold it, around $358.5 million, given the exchange rates at the time.
In a recent interview, Kazuhiro Togashi, OM System's Senior Vice President of Global Brand & Marketing Strategy, told DPReview that the company has been operating profitably since its founding in 2021. "Our fundamental financial situation is very stable and stronger than it was before. We can invest in human resources or new technologies, not only for camera bodies but also for lenses," he said.
He also added that the company wasn't publicly listed, so it couldn't disclose specifics of its financial situation. But if it's as strong as he implied, it could be a clue as to why OM System leadership felt confident enough to take "full responsibility" for the company.
OM System's press release says "there will be no changes to the Company’s legal entity, corporate name, location, representative, business activities, or the fundamental terms of transactions with customers and business partners as a result of this change." It also says that it will "enable more agile and flexible decision-making, strengthen the Company’s management foundation, and further promote investments in technology development and business growth strategies from a medium- to long-term perspective."
Only time will tell how that works out, but it means that OM System's next launch, whatever it may be, will likely get a lot of attention.
As for JIP, current CEO Hidemi Moue is being replaced in that role by Shinichi Inagaki, the current Executive Vice President. Moue will stay on as CIO and as a managing partner, sharing the latter title with Inagaki. The company says the change "reflects JIP's continued business expansion" and is meant to "further strengthen the firm's investment capabilities."