. | . |
China's Midea buys 80% of Toshiba's home appliances arm by Staff Writers Beijing (AFP) March 31, 2016 China's Midea Group will buy a little more than 80 percent of loss-making Japanese conglomerate Toshiba's home appliances arm for $473 million, the two companies said. Toshiba, which makes everything from rice cookers to nuclear plants, will retain the remaining 19.9 percent of Toshiba Lifestyle Products & Services Corporation (TLSC), which will retain its name, the two said in a joint statement. Under the deal, Midea will be licensed to use Toshiba brands for home appliances for 40 years, obtain more than 5,000 intellectual property assets, and be authorised to use other related patents retained by Toshiba, it said. The deal, worth 53.7 billion yen ($473 million) pending unspecified "adjustments", is the latest in a series of overseas acquisitions by Chinese firms, and comes as Beijing seeks to retool its heavy industry-dependent economy to one more driven by consumer demand. Chinese companies have made global headlines with multi-billion dollar buys in recent years, including state-owned ChemChina's $43 billion offer last month for Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta -- the biggest-ever overseas acquisition by a Chinese firm if it goes through. Another Chinese home appliance maker, Haier, announced in January that it will buy the appliances arm of US giant General Electric for $5.4 billion. Midea's chairman Fang Hongbo said the acquisition of the Toshiba unit -- which he called an "iconic brand" -- was "an important landmark in Midea's globalisation endeavour" and would "significantly strengthen our competitiveness in Japan, Southeast Asia and the global market". In the joint statement, issued Wednesday, Toshiba president Masashi Muromachi added he was "confident that Midea's further investment in R&D, marketing and branding will bring about a brighter future for the home appliances business". Toshiba has been roiled by a profit-padding scandal, in which bosses for years systematically pushed their subordinates to cover up weak financial figures. It is expecting a huge loss of about $6.4 billion for the year to March with sagging global demand contributing to its financial woes. The Midea takeover is subject to regulatory approvals in China and anti-trust clearances in relevant jurisdictions, the two firms said. Privately owned Midea, founded in 1968, is one of China's biggest home appliance makers and raked in 12.7 billion yuan ($2.0 billion) in net profit last year, up 21 percent from a year ago, according to its website. wf/slb/dan/rb
Related Links Global Trade News
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |