TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. 5201.T is selling its unit Asahi Fiber Glass Co. Ltd. to the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), as it slims down to better compete with Corning Inc. GLW.N, sources familiar with the deal said.
Tokyo-based Asahi Fiber Glass, capitalised at 6 billion yen
($51 million) and established in 1956, makes glass wool insulators and roofing materials.
Asahi Glass spokesman Keisuke Miida declined to comment and officials at Asahi Fiber were not immediately available.
Asahi Glass, the world’s second-biggest maker of LCD glass substrates, is selling off some operations in an attempt to catch up with Corning.
Reuters reported in June that Asahi Glass is also auctioning off its joint venture with Mitsubishi Electric Corp. 6503.T, the money-losing liquid crystal display-making joint venture Optrex Corp. The auction is rumoured to have stalled over valuations.
DBJ was established in 1999, through the merger of Japan Development Bank and Hokkaido-Tohoku Development Finance Public Corp.
DBJ is wholly government-owned and supervised by the Ministry of Finance. However the government decided to privatise the bank in 2005 and is encouraging it to branch out into new business opportunities.
((Editing by Malcolm Whittaker, Reuters messaging: alison.tudor.reuters.com@reuters.net; +81-3-3432-9998, alison.tudor@reuters.com))
For related news, double click on one of the following:
[LEN-ASIA-PVE] Asian private equity news
[LEN-ASIA-HEDGE] Asian hedge fund news
[LEN-ASIA-FUND] Asian fund news
($1=117.88 Yen) Keywords: JAPAN ASAHI GLASS/DBJ
C Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nT156732
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.