Silverfleet-backed Phase One buys business of Mamiya Digital Imaging

Silverfleet Capital, the European private equity firm with a buy-to-build strategy, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Phase One, has made an add-on acquisition in Japan. Phase One, the leading provider of open-platform, high-end camera systems and solutions, acquired the assets of Mamiya Digital Imaging Company Ltd (MDI) and has also appointed Makoto Honda as the new president of Phase One Japan. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Mamiya has a long and established reputation in the camera sector and Phase One has been a business partner of MDI since 2009, when it became a 45 percent shareholder. Since then Phase One has, through its close collaboration with the MDI team in Japan, gained a detailed insight into camera & lens design and production process and engineered important improvements. With this transaction, Phase One takes total ownership for all aspects of design and development of its medium format camera systems, central shutters & lenses and will take on the Mamiya team of 80 dedicated engineers and technicians based in Tokyo and at the factory in Saku, Japan.

Silverfleet invested in Phase One in March 2014. The company is based in Copenhagen with offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Cologne, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tel Aviv. Phase One products are known for their quality, flexibility and speed enabling professional photographers and industrial imaging companies shooting in a wide range of formats to achieve their creative visions without compromise. Phase One’s Capture One Pro and Media Pro software help streamline capture and post-production processes for both medium format and 35mm cameras.

Silverfleet Capital has been an active European mid-market private equity investor for 30 years and currently manages around €1.6 billion. A network of offices in London, Munich and Paris enables Silverfleet Capital to execute complex, multi-jurisdictional investments and then achieve value creation through its buy-to-build investment strategy. Since 2004 Silverfleet Capital has invested €1.3 billion in 19 companies which in turn have made 70 add-on acquisitions.