Toyota to buy out Daihatsu
Toyota has confirmed a deal to purchase Daihatsu Motors, which will now become a subsidiary operation.
Cars will still be sold under the Daihatsu brand, but it will now be wholly owned by Toyota. The deal will be facilitated by a share exchange estimated by Reuters to be around $3 billion, and is expected to take place in August.
Toyota currently owns 51.2% of Daihatsu. Speculation of a full buyout of the remaining shares had surfaced earlier this week, which saw Daihatsu share price increase.
In a statement, Toyota president Akio Toyoda said, ‘This is an opportunity for us both to stop feeling that we need to go it alone, and trust each other to take full advantage of our respective strengths. In other words, we can now focus on our core competencies.’
Daihatsu president Masanori Mitsui commented, ‘We see this as the perfect opportunity to cement our relationship with Toyota, and, by doing so, to embark on a new period of growth, and to elevate the Daihatsu brand to a global standard.’
The agreement is intended to develop cars through a unified strategy for the small car market, although both companies will be engage in what Toyota describe as ‘friendly competition’ and maintain separate management.
Toyota also intends for collaborations with Daihatsu on developing new technology and on entry into new business areas.
