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Toshiba to convert convertible bonds and acquire additional shares of Korea's Unison Co., Ltd.
TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it has reinforced its renewable energy business by signing a share purchase agreement with Unison Co., Ltd. (018000: KOSDAQ), Korea's leading manufacturer of wind power equipment. It will acquire approx. 3.53 million newly issued Unison shares. Separately, Toshiba has also signed an agreement to purchase approx. 2.909 million shares of Unison from the company's current shareholders.
In May 2011, Toshiba entered into a strategic business alliance with Unison and subsequently purchased convertible bonds issued by the Korean firm with a face value of approx. 40 billion won. Converting these to common stock, taking up the allocation of new stock and executing the stock purchase from current shareholders will allow Toshiba to acquire 34% shares of Unison, with a total value of approx. 84.3 billion won (approx. 6.2 billion yen), and to become the company's largest shareholder. This will further strengthen the partnership between Toshiba and Unison in the wind power business.
Unison is Korea's longest established wind power equipment manufacturer and has technologies for highly durable direct drive generators that employ a permanent magnet synchronous generator with no gears. Unison is known for its strength in manufacturing competitive products and has a total annual production capacity equivalent to 1,000MW. The company has the top share in the Korean market among Korean makers.
Toshiba has a long standing commitment to and expertise in renewable energy sources, including hydro, geothermal and photovoltaic power and fuel cells, and the capital alliance will position Toshiba and Unison to promote further collaboration in the wind power business. By maximizing synergy with Toshiba's total energy innovation, the companies will provide end-to-end solutions, from product development to manufacturing and sales, and advance the wind power business in Japan and other global markets.
Outline of Unison Co., Ltd.
| Established: | 1984 |
| CEO: | Doo-Hoon Kim |
| Head Office: | Sacheon City, Korea |
| Business: | Wind power generation windmills and generators; development, construction and operation of wind power plants; forging of ship shafts and bearings |
| Sales: | About 5.6 billion yen (as of 2011) |
| Employees: | 239 (as of March, 2012) |