Kobe Steel and Mitsubishi Materials
to form copper tube joint venture
company
TOKYO, February 24, 2004 - Kobe Steel, Ltd. and
Mitsubishi Materials Corporation formally agreed today to establish a joint
venture company to which their copper tube businesses will be transferred. To be
formed on April 1, the new company, Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube, Ltd.
(or KMC), will be 55% owned by Kobe Steel and 45% owned by Mitsubishi
Materials.
Kobe and Mitsubishi previously announced in November last year
plans to combine their copper tube businesses and form a joint venture, though
details of the new company were undecided at that time.
The joint venture is forecast to have consolidated sales of 34
billion yen and a domestic market share of about 35%. To have an estimated 30%
share in Southeast Asia, the new company will be one of the largest
manufacturers of copper tube in the region.
KMC will manufacture, sell and conduct R&D on copper tube
for air conditioners, copper tube for construction and hot water supply, and
other related products. To be based in Tokyo, the new company will be
capitalized at 6 billion yen. An extra 5 billion yen will be allocated for
capital reserve. KMC will employ approximately 370 people in Japan and 680
overseas. The president will be Shinji Yano, who is currently an executive vice
president at Kobe Steel.
In production scale, marketing, quality, cost competitiveness,
technical capabilities, and manufacturing technology, the new joint venture will
aim to become one of the leading integrated manufacturers of copper tube in
Asia, combining Kobe Steel's metal processing technology and Mitsubishi
Materials Group's alloy technology.
To be transferred to KMC are the assets, liabilities, rights and
obligations, and other contractual arrangements pertaining to the manufacture,
research and development, and sale of copper tube and related processed products
currently held by Kobe Steel and Mitsubishi Materials. To be included in the
transfer are Kobe Copper (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. and Hatano Pipe Center, Ltd. in
which Kobe Steel holds equity stakes and MMC Copper Tube (Thailand) Co., Ltd. in
which Mitsubishi Materials holds an equity share.
Outline of the New Company
| Name: |
Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube,
Ltd. |
| Head office: |
Tokyo |
| Capital: |
6 billion yen (plus 5 billion yen for
capital reserve) |
| Equity share: |
Kobe Steel 55%, Mitsubishi Materials
45% |
| President & Representative
Director: |
|
Shinji Yano (Currently Executive Vice
President & Representative Director, Kobe Steel, Ltd. |
| Employees: |
About 370 in Japan & 680
overseas |
| Production: |
Hadano, Kanagawa; Kitamoto, Saitama (both
in Japan) |
| Overseas: |
Kobe Copper (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
MMC
Copper Tube (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
(In the future, these two companies will
be renamed respectively as follows:
Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube
(Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube (Thailand) Co.,
Ltd.) |
| Business activities: |
Copper tube for air conditioners, copper
tube for construction and hot water supply, and other related products |
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