Asahi Glass Co. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said 25 December 2007 that they will sell their stakes in struggling LCD panel joint venture Optrex Corp. to an investment fund for a total of JPY 10 mill…
Asahi Glass Co. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said 25 December 2007 that they will sell their stakes in struggling LCD panel joint venture Optrex Corp. to an investment fund for a total of JPY 10 million. In February 2008, Optrex will increase its capital by issuing JPY 8 billion in new shares to Asahi Glass and Mitsubishi Electric; the joint venture will then be sold to Japan Industrial Partners Inc. Asahi Glass owns 60% of Optrex while Mitsubishi Electric has the remaining 40%. Established in 1976, Optrex produces small and midsize LCD panels but has a market share of just 1%. Panel prices have been falling precipitously because of severe competition. For the fiscal year ended December 2006, Optrex posted a net loss of about JPY 1.7 billion on sales of JPY 84.6 billion. Asahi Glass is expected to book an extraordinary loss of JPY 3.8 billion from the sale of the joint venture. Mitsubishi Electric will take a charge of JPY 3 billion.