Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1995/11/02

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To: Jeffrey Frey <jeff@eng.umd.edu>
Subject: Re: Who owns Leica?
From: Charles Albertson <chucko@eskimo.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 1995 18:47:59 -0800 (PST)
Cc: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us

On Thu, 2 Nov 1995, Jeffrey Frey wrote:

> 
> On Wed, 1 Nov 1995, Jeffrey Frey wrote:
> 
> > I did check the Leica site, which is adding interesting information, mostly
> > in German, all the time.
> > Appears that Leitz and Leica are fully Swiss owned now; I wonder whther
> > Wild has discarded its own trade name, because they are showing pictures of
> > what used to be Wild surveying instruments on the Leica site.  The Leica
> > group includes Leitz instruments, mostly in Switzerland, and Leica cameras,
> > mostly in Germany.  There are more employees in Germany than in Switzerland,
> > about 600 making Leica cameras in Solms, which is I understand near Wetzlar,
> > and the rest making other nice things like microscopes here and there.  Several
> > hundred people still are working in Wetzlar where is a feinwerktechnik among
> > other things. 
> > 
> > The Leica site claims development and production in 8 countries on 3 
> > different continents, and do claim research on cameras in Switzerland,
> > Germany, Buffalo NY and Singapore.  Also production in Portugal and Singapore
> > as well as elsewhere.
> > 
> > Ah, I see at the bottom of the page the note
> > Founded in 1990 by the merger of Wild Leitz and Cambridge Instruments.
> > So Wild and Leitz must have got together earlier and then merged with
> > Cambridge, which was the first manufacturer of scanning electron microscopes
> > in the world.
> > 
Actually, I believe Leica Camera (in Solms) was bought out by its current 
management several years ago.

In reply to: Message from Jeffrey Frey <jeff@eng.umd.edu> (Who owns Leica?)