Kyocera to Acquire 100% Ownership of OPTREX Corp.

1/24/2012 9:58 AM 

Kyocera Corporation has announced that it has completed a share transfer agreement with three investment funds operated by Japan Industrial Partners, Inc. to acquire all shares of Optrex Corporation — a specialized manufacturer of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and related products — in order to further strengthen and expand its LCD and touchscreen panel businesses. Effective February 1, 2012, Optrex will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyocera Corporation.

Kyocera's corporate Thin Film Components Group develops, manufactures, and markets small- and medium-sized LCDs for industrial applications worldwide. Since 2010, Kyocera has been expanding its capacitive touchscreen panel business with an emphasis on features such as thinness, strength, and waterproof functionality for use in smartphones.

Optrex manufactures LCDs for automotive applications and has a strong customer base both inside and outside of Japan. Kyocera expects that the acquisition will allow the company to further enhance the product lines of both its conventional industrial equipment applications and newly acquired automotive applications, and thus contribute to business expansion.