Kyocera acquires Sanyo's mobile phone biz

Following months of speculation, telecom equipment giant Kyocera officially announced a definitive agreement to acquire Sanyo Electric's mobile phone operations for up to $468 million, effectively creating the world's sixth largest handset business. Per terms of the deal, Kyocera acquires Sanyo assets relating to research, development, design, materials procurement, manufacture, sales and marketing of CDMA handsets and PHS handsets, PHS base stations and wireless communications systems along with a range of related technologies, intellectual property and patents. According to Kyocera, the acquisition is forecasted to accelerate its worldwide annual global telecommunications equipment revenues to about $3.7 billion. The agreement, approved by both companies' boards of directors, is expected to become effective April 1, 2008--at that time, Kyocera will launch a new wholly-owned North American subsidiary, separate from its San Diego-based Kyocera Wireless division, to assume the operations of U.S.-based Sanyo business units.

For more on the Kyocera/Sanyo deal:
- read this Release

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Kyocera set to buy Sanyo's mobile business