 "Mitsubishi and Ube Industries to merge injection moulding machine businesses")
Ube Machinery Corporation Ltd, a group company of Ube Industries Ltd, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology Co Ltd, a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI), have agreed to merge their respective injection moulding machine businesses.
Ube Machinery Corporation has been looking to enhance its presence among customers and expand its plastics processing machinery business by improving its product appeal through measures including cost reductions, launching of new models accommodating more customers’ needs, and expansion and enhancement of overseas service bases.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology possesses outstanding technology and sales strengths in injection moulding machines, one of the core varieties of plastics processing machinery, and also has a robust track record in deliveries of many models worldwide.
Under the newly concluded agreement, Ube Machinery will acquire the management rights to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology. By pooling the respective strengths of the two companies, Ube Machinery will strengthen its sales and servicing capabilities through enhancement of its product line-up and sales network, reduce production costs, and improve development capabilities by integrating the two companies’ technologies in a quest to cope with the increasingly severe environment surrounding the injection moulding machine business environment both in Japan and abroad. The company’s aim is to achieve business expansion within the global market for injection moulding machines by providing new value anticipating customers’ increasingly diversified needs.
Ube Machinery will acquire an 85 percent stake in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology in order to secure the latter’s worldwide business in injection moulding machines.
Besides, the scope of the agreement includes the transfer of MHI’s injection moulding machine sales bases in the core overseas markets: North America, China and Thailand. Other overseas sales bases will remain under MHI’s oversight, and efforts will be made to enhance their customer services. There are also plans to establish a sales company (to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ube Machinery) to handle the injection moulding machines marketed by Ube Machinery and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology.