Kyocera to Sell Down $10.4 Billion KDDI Stake to Boost Finances
- Kyoto-based electronics maker may exit non-core operations
- Kyocera has expanded into many disparate fields over 65 years
Kyocera Corp. plans to sell down its stake in Japan’s No. 2 telecom operator KDDI Corp. over the next five years, the latest company to take part in a gradual unwinding of cross-held shares in Japan.
The Kyoto-based maker of telecom equipment and semiconductor materials holds 15.3% of KDDI — a stake now worth roughly ¥1.6 trillion ($10.4 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Kyocera plans to sell about a third of that stake and will use the proceeds to bolster its finances, it said in a statement. Kyocera, which established KDDI’s precursor Daini-Denden Kikaku Co. in 1984, may also use KDDI shares as collateral to take out loans, and will consider further reducing its KDDI holdings and exiting its non-core operations, it said in its earnings presentation.