Japanese electronics giant Sony has agreed to sell its stake in a

Japanese electronics giant Sony has agreed to sell its stake in a joint liquid crystal display panel venture in South Korea to its partner Samsung Electronics.

Samsung will acquire all of Sony’s stake in S-LCD Corp., making it a wholly owned subsidiary of the Korean company, they said in a statement.

The Asian electronics giants have worked together since the 1990s in the semiconductor and LCD fields.

They established S-LCD in South Korea in 2004 to jointly produce LCD panels mainly used for televisions. Samsung had a stake of 50 percent plus one share with Sony holding the remainder.

For its share transfer which will close by the end of January, Sony will receive 1.08 trillion won ($939 million), the statement said.

Sony is increasingly relying on other manufacturers for the key TV component as LCD panel prices continue to slide due to a supply glut.

Source AFP