Komatsu is one of the world’s oldest machine manufacturing companies and over the course of its existence; the Japanese company has managed to maintain its dominance in the industry despite a slew of challenges that it has had to face. One of the company’s important strategies over the years has been clever acquisitions that had gone on to strengthen the company considerably and helped it beat the competition. It seems that Komatsu is on the verge of completing a similar move with the possible acquisition of Australian company Immersive Technologies.
According to reports, the Komatsu plans to buy the company, but there are also suggestions that the talks between the two companies are at an advanced stage. Immersive Technologies is the world biggest surface and underground equipment simulator supplier. Such a deal makes a lot of sense for Komatsu, but it would perhaps be more interesting to see the motivations of Immersive Technologies when going for such a deal. The terms of the deal offered by Komatsu are generous. First of all, Immersive would not suddenly become another division of Komatsu under centralized control. The company would continue to operate out of its headquarters located in Perth, and they will continue to go about their affairs as an independent subsidiary. It makes a lot of sense for Komatsu to allow Immersive Technologies to work in a fashion that allowed it to become the world’s biggest in its industry and not interfere in the day to day operations of the company.
Immersive’s products are used in as many as 44 countries, including in some of the biggest economies of the world like India, China, the United States, Brazil, and Russia, among others. The chairman of Komatsu Mining, Masayuki Moriyama, stated,
We are very pleased to welcome Immersive Technologies into the Komatsu group. We look forward to working together with Immersive Technologies to enhance Komatsu’s mining business and continue the success in its multiple-OEM simulator strategy.
Although Immersive Technologies will operate independently, it should be noted that it will now have access to Komatsu’s considerable resources, and that is definitely a huge boon for the company.
