Tokyo: JFE Holdings is to increase its current 50% stake in its shipbuilding joint venture with Hitachi Zosen Corp by 35%, reports Dow Jones. The Japanese steelmaking and engineering group hopes that the new stake of 85% by the end of March will allow it to focus on its shipbuilding operations. Although neither company specified how much the stake sale was worth, Hitachi Zosen said it will book a 17.1bn yen special profit from the sale and raised its net profit outlook for this fiscal year to 11bn yen from 5bn yen.
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The announcement of the stake purchase comes after IHI Corp. said earlier in the day it has entered into talks with JFE on a potential merger of their shipbuilding operations. [07/03/08]
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