Sony has announced that it has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Murata for the transfer of its battery business.
The transfer will include, Sony Energy Devices Corporation’s battery business, Sony’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Japan, its battery-related manufacturing operations located in China and Singapore, assets and personnel assigned to the battery business at the Sony Group’s sales and R&D sites in Japan and worldwide.
“This will not include Sony-branded USB batteries, alkaline batteries, button and coin batteries, and mobile projectors, as well as certain other products,” said the company.
Sony became the first the company to commercialize lithium-ion battery in 1991. Sony’s battery business have not been great in the recent times. In the last quarter, the company took 30.6 billion yen (US$ 271 million) as impairment charge against long-lived assets in the battery business recorded in the previous fiscal year.
Even though Sony said that there is a possibility that the company will record a loss related to the transfer of the battery business if it signs an agreement. It does not intend to reflect the potential loss in the consolidated results forecast scheduled to be announced tomorrow, July 29 because the amount of the potential loss will depend on the content of the definitive agreements that may be signed in the future.
Sony said that it is aiming to execute binding definitive agreement with Murata by the middle of October 2016, and to complete the Transfer by the end of March 2017 after regulatory approvals.