Japan“s Nippon Sheet Glass Co Ltd (NSG) is auctioning its stake in LCD glass maker NH Techno Glass Corp to private equity bidders, sources close to the matter said. Confirmation was not available fro…
Japan“s Nippon Sheet Glass Co Ltd (NSG) is auctioning its stake in LCD glass maker NH Techno Glass Corp to private equity bidders, sources close to the matter said. Confirmation was not available from the firms involved. NSG owns NH Techno Glass jointly with Hoya Corp. It was not immediately clear whether Hoya would sell its stake if there was a high bid, or keep it. Global private equity firm Carlyle Group is rumoured to be interested in buying the company. NSG bought British glassmaker Pilkington for around USD 3 billion in 2006 and may use funds from the sale of NH Techno Glass to pay back some loans. It had debt of JPY 560 billion (USD 4.88 billion) as of March 2007 and a debt/equity ratio of 1.66%. NSG“s stated aim is to reduce this to 1% by 2011. Privately-owned NH Techno Glass group“s head office is in the Japanese city of Yokohama. It has affiliates in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. The company ran into difficulties after problems on its production line. In September 2006 it started to cut some loss-making products and jobs, which brought it back into the black. NH Techno Glass is considered a minor player in world terms: it has a 4% market share, according to market research firm DisplaySearch. It is ranked fourth behind Asahi Glass Co Ltd , Corning Inc and Nippon Electric Glass Co Ltd , which between them account for about 95% of the global market in glass for LCD substrates. Investment bank UBS, which advised NSG on its acquisition of Pilkington, is organising the auction, sources said.