Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp are in the final stages of talks to combine their small LCD panel units and sell up to 80 percent of the new entity to the Japanese government, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday. The government-backed investment fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan will invest about 100 billion yen ($1.24 billion) to own 70-80 percent of the merged entity, which aims to become the market leader in panels used in devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, the Nikkei said citing unidentified sources. The new unit would overtake Sharp Corp as the leading maker of small liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels, the Nikkei said. Toshiba Mobile Display Co had 9.2 percent of the global small LCD panel market in 2010 while Sony Mobile Display Corp had 6.1 percent, behind top-ranked Sharp's 14.8 percent share, the newspaper said.
Source
