Rumor: Panasonic investigating the possibility of buying Leica?

We mentioned this rumor yesterday in the PMA 2009 rumor page, but it has now picked up discussion-momentum - see Wouter's blog for three more new discussion points.

To summarize, one forum user said that they were told by a serious banker that Panasonic was investigating the possibility of buying the photography parts of Leica.

Of course Panasonic has just announced rather disappointing financial results, with layoffs, and not so long ago they bought Sanyo, so why would they be investigating the possibility of buying Leica? Well, there can be a number of business reasons for doing so.

If you think that doesn't make sense, take a few minutes to investigate how many big companies have been absorbed by today's Hewlett Packard in just the last ten years.

Again, please note that this is only a RUMOR.