Having spent some US$4 billion during this period under the stewardship of Kikukawa, the company's aggressive strategy of external growth was not without criticism.[19][26] According to an Olympus employee, the acquisitions process and funds movements were under the tight control of a small circle of executives in the 'Financial Affairs Group'.[27] Japanese business daily is quoted as saying more than a hundred businesses were acquired during Kikukawa's tenure, and that the majority were unlisted and loss-making. The investments were in diverse sectors such as pet care and DVD production, and often had little connection with the core Olympus business.[28] The most significant acquisition was the British medical equipment maker Gyrus Group, acquired in 2008 at a cost of $2 billion[29] – the equivalent of almost 5 times turnover and 27 times EBITDA.[24] In the same year, Olympus also paid out ¥73.5 billion ($965 million) when it acquired three "small venture firms" – Altis, Humalabo, and NewsChef.[29] By contrast, in 2009 Olympus sold the profitable diagnostics unit it had built up over 40 years to Beckman Coulter for $1 billion – approximately two times turnover – to free up capital