The change comes as the copier, printer and camera manufacturer Ricoh acquired all outstanding shares in Pentax from the optical firm Hoya, thereby establishing it as a wholly owned subsidiary and completing a transaction initially announced on 01 July.

The move also put to rest uncertainty as to the future of Pentax's European operations, Pentax Imaging Systems Business, with shares remaining in these operations transferred to Pentax Imaging Corporation prior to the final acquisition.

Ricoh paid £77m for Pentax, and in a notice of sale published jointly with Hoya, three areas of expertise were identified as being of value to Ricoh's current operations: the "digital camera businesses (especially the interchangeable lens camera market which is expected to grow)", "value-added services that encourage seeing, storing and refinishing photographs," and "the image archiving business using medium-format digital cameras and enhancement of security related products."

This emphasis on using the acquisition of Pentax to build upon existing technologies and push forward new ones was reiterated in Saturday's announcement, with Ricoh writing that in creating the new company, it "will strive to further bolster consumer products and services in addition to its digital camera business."

In the light of Ricoh's ambition to compete in the consumer-driven digital camera market with Nikon and Sony, who have both recently announced the launches of new mirrorless digital cameras, it remains to be seen whether the deal will result in a dynamic union.

For more information on the acquisition read BJP's Pentax sold to Ricoh for £77m.