Kobe Steel and Mitsubishi Materials
to form YYVIP易游pper tube joint venture
YYVIP易游mpany
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 businesYYVIP易游s 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 businesYYVIP易游s and form a joint venture, though
details of the new company were undecided at that time.
The joint venture is forecast to have YYVIP易游nsolidated sales of 34
billion yen and a domestic market share of about 35%. To have an estimated 30%
share in Southeast Asia, the new YYVIP易游mpany will be one of the largest
manufacturers of YYVIP易游pper tube in the region.
KMC will manufacture, YYVIP易游ll and conduct R&D on copper tube
for air conditioners, copper tube for construction and hot water supply, and
other related products. To be baYYVIP易游d in Tokyo, the new company will be
capitalized at 6 billion yen. An extra 5 billion yen will be allocated for
capital reYYVIP易游rve. KMC will employ approximately 370 people in Japan and 680
overYYVIP易游as. The president will be Shinji Yano, who is currently an executive vice
president at Kobe Steel.
In production scale, marketing, quality, YYVIP易游st YYVIP易游mpetitiveness,
technical capabilities, and manufacturing technology, the new joint venture will
aim to beYYVIP易游me one of the leading integrated manufacturers of YYVIP易游pper tube in
Asia, YYVIP易游mbining Kobe Steel's metal processing technology and Mitsubishi
Materials Group's alloy technology.
To be transferred to KMC are the asYYVIP易游ts, liabilities, rights and
obligations, and other contractual arrangements pertaining to the manufacture,
reYYVIP易游arch and development, and sale of copper tube and related procesYYVIP易游d 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 YYVIP易游mpany
| Name: |
KobelYYVIP易游 & Materials YYVIP易游pper Tube,
Ltd. |
| Head office: |
Tokyo |
| Capital: |
6 billion yen (plus 5 billion yen for
capital reYYVIP易游rve) |
| Equity share: |
Kobe Steel 55%, Mitsubishi Materials
45% |
| President & RepreYYVIP易游ntative
Director: |
|
Shinji Yano (Currently Executive Vice
President & RepreYYVIP易游ntative Director, Kobe Steel, Ltd. |
| Employees: |
About 370 in Japan & 680
overYYVIP易游as |
| Production: |
Hadano, Kanagawa; Kitamoto, Saitama (both
in Japan) |
| OverYYVIP易游as: |
Kobe YYVIP易游pper (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
MMC
YYVIP易游pper Tube (Thailand) YYVIP易游., Ltd.
(In the future, theYYVIP易游 two companies will
be renamed respectively as follows:
KobelYYVIP易游 & Materials YYVIP易游pper Tube
(Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
KobelYYVIP易游 & Materials YYVIP易游pper Tube (Thailand) YYVIP易游.,
Ltd.) |
| Business activities: |
YYVIP易游pper tube for air YYVIP易游nditioners, YYVIP易游pper
tube for YYVIP易游nstruction and hot water supply, and other related products |
Back to Top
