TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd and Hitachi Ltd plan to double production of liquid crystal display panels, building a new line at their joint venture and also a new assembly plant in Eastern Europe, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported without citing sources.
IPS Alpha Technology Ltd, the LCD panel production joint venture launched last year by the two firms, along with Toshiba Corp and others, will raise 30 bln yen by issuing new shares through a private placement, the business daily said.
Hitachi and Matsushita will each buy 15 bln yen of these shares, but Toshiba will not take part in the capital increase, it said.
Once its capital is increased, IPS Alpha will first set up a new production line at its LCD panel plant in Chiba Prefecture at a cost of 65 bln yen, boosting annual output in terms of 32-inch televisions by as much as 80 pct from the current 2.5 mln panels to 4.5 mln panels by 2008, it said.
The venture will then spend 15 bln yen to build within the year a new assembly plant in the Czech Republic, where Matsushita has an assembly facility for LCD TVs and other products, it said.
(1 usd = 112.16 yen)
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