Nikon awarded "Deal of the Year 2003" from THOMSON DealWatch
for its "Soft-Mandatory" featured CB offering

Nikon Corporation (Teruo SHIMAMURA, President & COO) was awarded "Equity-linked Bond Overseas Deal of the Year" from THOMSON DealWatch for the issuance of its ¥34.5 billion, 50% premium, zero-coupon convertible bonds due 2011. THOMSON DealWatch is a service operated by Thomson Financial, one of the major financial information services providers in US.

As the convertible markets become more diversified in terms of issuer sector and deal size, and investor demand for Japanese convertible bonds continues to grow, Nikon issued Japan's first convertible bond with a "soft-mandatory" feature, which generated strong demand from investors, leading to the Award.

Nikon will use the net proceeds from this issuance for the repayment of certain debt obligations in order to reduce interest expenses, as well as for strategic alternatives to enhance competitiveness and profitability, and for research and development relating to semiconductor manufacturing products and digital cameras.

Nikon will continue to focus on strengthening our balance sheet to minimize effects of the changing business environment through improving profitability and flexible financing.

• *Soft-mandatory feature:
  The issuer's option to redeem the Convertible Bond by shares and cash even if the share price is below the conversion price at the maturity date.
  Even when the issuer exercises this option for all or a part of the total amount, the number of shares to be issued will not exceed the theoretical dilution.
• *THOMSON DealWatch Awards:
  A service operated by Thomson Financial, a provider of global data and solutions for financial information, based in New York. THOMSON DealWatch selects the "Deal of the Year" annually from transactions, issuers, and investment banks which contribute to the development and vitalization based on its "DealWatch criteria" along with the research by itself and recommendation from market participants.