Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. Ltd. (Japan) and Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. (Japan) announced that they have reached an agreement with Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (Netherlands) and Philips Lighting Holding BV (Netherlands) to take full ownership of the respective battery manufacturing joint ventures, Philips Matsushita Battery Corp. NV (PMBC, Belgium) and Philips Matsushita Batteries Poland SA (PMBP, Poland).
The Matsushita Group and Philips Group each currently hold a 50-percent stake in the PMBC and PMBP joint ventures. Under the new agreement, Matsushita will purchase Philips' entire equity interest in the two companies for 42 million euro. The transaction will be completed following governmental approvals.
The two battery-manufacturing companies will continue their operations under the new names Matsushita Battery Poland SA and Matsushita Battery Belgium NV, each 40-percent owned by Matsushita Electrical Industrial and 60-percent by Matsushita Battery Industrial.
