Hitachi sells a little more than its LCD business

Canon aims to Hitachi Displays a subsidiary of Canon.

Hitachi today announced the company and for a long time rival Canon have signed a contract to form a business alliance LCD. This agreement follows closely on the heels of a similar agreement between Hitachi and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which sells LCD televisions under the Panasonic name.

The terms of the agreement between Hitachi and Canon (PDF) Canon detail the position to take control of 24.9% of Hitachi Displays, Ltd. The party will be transferred to Hitachi Canon to March 31, 2008. The transaction is pending regulatory approval and if approved the acquisition Canon will cost 43.2 billion yen or approximately $ 400 million USD.

The agreement also purchase a Canon 50% stake in shares of the shareholders of IPS Alpha Technology. Canon also said that the next step in the agreement is to acquire the shares of Hitachi Displays Ltd. currently by Hitachi and Matsushita. This second step in the agreement will Hitachi Displays a subsidiary of Canon. The agreement gives Hitachi the option of receiving up to 10% of the shares of Hitachi Displays.

DailyTech reported a few weeks ago that Hitachi, Matsushita had sold 24.9% of Hitachi Ltd and shows a strong interest in IPS Alpha Technology Ltd DailyTech for the first time in billions of dollars for the purchase of shares of talks Hitachi in December 2007.