KYOTO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) today announced that it has completed a share transfer agreement with three investment funds operated by Japan Industrial Partners, Inc. to acquire all shares of Optrex Corporation (herein "Optrex") — a specialized manufacturer of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and related products — in order to further strengthen and expand its LCD and touchscreen panel businesses. Effective February 1, 2012, Optrex will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyocera Corporation.
Background
Kyocera's Corporate Thin Film Components Group develops, manufactures and markets small- and medium-sized LCDs for industrial applications worldwide. The company has been successful in establishing a business structure capable of responding to customer needs, which requires the ability to meet custom orders and to manufacture a wide range of products even in small volume. Furthermore, since 2010 Kyocera has been expanding its capacitive touchscreen panel business and has garnered a good reputation for product quality and features such as thinness, strength and waterproof functionality for use in smartphones.
Demand for LCDs used in industrial equipment and automotive applications is expected to steadily increase; and the expanding market for capacitive touchscreen panels used in high value-added products such as smartphones and tablet computers is expected to see continued high-growth in the coming years.
Optrex has a high level of technical ability in manufacturing LCDs for automotive applications and a strong customer base both inside and outside of Japan. Kyocera expects that the acquisition will allow the company to further enhance the product lines of both its conventional industrial equipment applications and newly acquired automotive applications, and thus contribute to business expansion.
Moreover, Optrex also possesses excellent production technology for touchscreen panels, thus by effectively combining both companies' product technologies and operating resources including customer bases, Kyocera also expects to further enhance and expand its touchscreen panel business.
This acquisition will enable Kyocera to further expand its LCD and touchscreen panel business and to meet a wider range of customer needs.
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Overview of OPTREX |
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| Company name: | OPTREX Corporation | |
| Established: | July 1976 | |
| Headquarters: | 4F Cosmo Park Bldg. Higashinippori, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo,116-0014 Japan | |
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President and |
Shinichi Inagaki | |
| Business: |
R&D of LCD devices, organic light emitting displays (LED) and other optical-electronic display devices; manufacture and sale of related electronic components and materials |
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| Capital: | JPY4,075 million | |
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No. of |
6,476 (as of November 2011) | |
| Main facilities: | Manufacturing plants: Japan, China, Thailand | |
| Sales offices: Japan, China, Singapore, U.S.A., Germany | ||
For more information about Kyocera LCDs & Touchscreen Panels: http://global.kyocera.com/prdct/ios/lcd/index.html
Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) (http://global.kyocera.com/), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine ceramics (also known as "advanced ceramics"). By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of electronic components, telecommunications equipment, printers, copiers, solar power generating systems, semiconductor packages, cutting tools and industrial ceramics. During the year ended March 31, 2011, the company's net sales totaled 1.27 trillion yen (approx. USD15.3 billion). The company is ranked #604 on Forbes magazine's 2011 "Global 2000" listing of the world's largest publicly traded companies.