(Bloomberg) — Hitachi Ltd. has decided to sell its 40% holding in Hitachi Transport System Ltd. shares to KKR & Co., which is planning a tender offer to take the logistics company private, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The deal is on track to be announced as soon as on Thursday, April 28, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations aren’t public. Blackstone, Bain Capital and Baring Private Equity Asia were also seeking to buy the stake, which KKR will acquire for less than 700 billion yen ($5.5 billion), they said.
Once a sprawling conglomerate and the country’s biggest loss-maker, Hitachi has been divesting assets to focus on its core businesses of power grids, nuclear energy, automotive parts, train infrastructure and industrial products, linking many of them with its own software. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Hitachi Metals Ltd., and Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. are all targeted for sale, or are in the process already.
Read more: Hitachi’s $18 Billion Divestment Drive Kept Activists at Bay
A spokesman for Hitachi said on Tuesday that a sale of Hitachi Transport is being considered, but that nothing had been decided. A representative from KKR declined to comment.
Hitachi shares fell as much as 3% on Tuesday. The Nikkei newspaper reported last week that KKR was set to make a tender offer to take Hitachi Transport private.
Hitachi will re-invest around 10% in Hitachi Transport after KKR’s acquisition, the people said.
(Updates with Hitachi reinvesting in last paragraph.)
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