News: 0180722578

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Leica Camera's Owners Weigh $1.2 Billion Sale of Controlling Stake (msn.com)

(Monday February 02, 2026 @10:46PM (msmash) from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.)


The owners of Leica Camera AG -- Austrian billionaire Andreas Kaufmann and private equity giant Blackstone -- are [1]considering a sale of a controlling stake in the German camera maker in a deal that could value the company at about $1.2 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

HSG, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, and Altor Equity Partners are among a handful of bidders. The Kaufmann family could re-invest following a transaction. Leica traces its roots roughly 150 years to Ernst Leitz's microscope company and was publicly traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange until the Kaufmann family took it private in 2012.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping/blackstone-backed-leica-camera-weighs-1-billion-sale/ar-AA1UP5Kn


I get the snakebite kit out (Score:1)

by scalptalc ( 6477834 )

Anytime I read something like "Equity Partners".

Bad for consumers (Score:2)

by locater16 ( 2326718 )

For those not familiar with the camera world: Leica has done a relatively good job recently positioning itself as a "premium" camera brand. You do pay a ton, but from lenses to most cameras you get stuff that's noticeably at least a bit better in most ways than any directly competing product.

Of course a sale means the owners assume they've maxxed out how far they can take this, and any potential buyers are probably the type to cut corners and ride higher profit margins on the brand name until it's wrung o

Leica's Cameras, Optics, image processin and Brand (Score:2)

by williamyf ( 227051 )

Leica Cameras, as in point and Shoot and Profesional Cameras are very good.

Their optics are very good to.

Some of their image processing technologies, like using RYGB sensors (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue) are very interesting.

And, in a world were phones with high end cameras use the Carl Zeiss branding ad nauseam, some phone brands partner with Leica for some needed diferentiation.

All of this is valuable stuff.

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