Japan Wants Nissan-NEC JV to Buy Sony’s Lithium-Ion Battery Unit

The Nissan-NEC Corp JV received a request from a Japanese state-backed fund to purchase Sony’s lithium-ion battery unit.

As Sony looks to sell its non-core businesses, the Japanese state-backed fund asked the Nissan-NEC Corp joint venture to purchase the company’s lithium-ion battery unit so that the technology will not get into the rivals’ hands in China and Taiwan. After this report Sony’s shares increased 6.9% in Tokyo. In 2012 Sony sold its chemical business to Innovation Network Corp of Japan for $700 million, as the company plans to focus only on gaming, cameras and mobile devices, an attempt to revive the fortunes of its consumer electronics business.

Sony’s CEO, Kazuo Hirai, said at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, that the company will sell any business which won’t contribute to the selected core divisions or help cut losses in televisions. The INCJ has already announced that it is willing to make investments in any company create by merging the Nissan-NEC venture with Sony’s battery division.

Although Sony Energy Devices Corp was a pioneer in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for mobile devices and computers, had to face though competition coming from the price-cutting South Korean rivals. Now the company plans to sell the two plants in China and Singapore, and three in Japan, valued by the company at $578 million.