Nikon Corp said it has set aside 200 billion yen ($1.96 billion) for mergers and acquisitions in medical and other growth fields, as part of its midterm strategy plan announced on Tuesday.

The camera and precision instrument maker also said it would assign 220 billion yen for research and development over three years including the current business year to March 2015. Of that, 50 billion yen will be directed to fields such as medical equipment.

Nikon said it was aiming for 130 billion yen in sales from its medical business by the year ending March 2017, for when it was also targeting an total operating profit of 110 billion yen. It booked an operating profit of 62.94 billion yen for the year ended March 31.-Reuters