Sony to sell chemical unit amid massive overhaul

Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony said Thursday it was selling its chemical products division to the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) as part of a massive overhaul of its business.

Sony, which has been struggling with huge losses, did not say how much the bank would pay for the chemical division which makes a variety of products, including film used in liquid-crystal display panels.

Sony, which said it was aiming to finalize the deal by May and complete the sale in the first quarter of 2013, said the unit no longer fit into its wider restructuring plan.

"As a result of such realignment effort, (Sony) believes that this transaction would be the optimum solution for Sony, DBJ and the chemical products businesses themselves," it said in a statement.

Sony added that the bank's "domestic and international networks and other diverse business resources will enable the chemical products businesses to achieve further growth and development in the future."

The unit, which has about 3,000 employees in Japan and at factories in the United States, Europe and China, reported sales of 111 billion yen ($1.33 billion) for the year to March 2011.

The sale comes after credit rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded the Japanese firm, citing its poor earnings, falling demand and fierce competition.

That news came about a week after the company shed its Welsh-born American chief executive Howard Stringer and said it was expecting to lose a whopping 220 billion yen by March for a fourth consecutive year in the red.

Sony blamed difficult trading conditions in developed-country markets, the impact of severe flooding in Thailand, and the high yen as among the causes of the plunging numbers.