Pioneering lithium-ion company Sony Corporation is set to sell its battery business to fellow Japanese firm Murata Manufacturing.
Sony signalled it’s intent to negotiate the sale of the group’s battery business by entering into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Murata.
The deal the Murata, an electronics firm, is expected to include Sony’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sony Energy Devices Corporation.
The deal will also include Sony’s battery-related manufacturing operations in China and Singapore, and assets and employees to the Sony Group’s sales and R&D sites in Japan and worldwide.
Both parties are aiming to finalise initial details by the middle of October 2016, and to complete the deal by the end of March 2017.
Although the scope of the transfer remains to be finalised, the deal is still subject to required regulatory approvals.
Sony-branded USB batteries, alkaline batteries, button and coin batteries, and mobile projectors, as well as certain other products, are not expected to be included in the deal.
Sony has run its battery business since 1975, and in 1991 commercialised the world’s first lithium-ion battery.
Recently, Sony has focused on boosting sales of its lithium-ion polymer battery business for smartphones, while also shifting its resources to cylindrical lithium-ion batteries for power tools and high-power applications.
