Vaio close to Toshiba, Fujitsu deal to form PC giant

Tokyo

VAIO Corp, the personal computer maker spun off from Sony Corp in 2014, is closing in on a three-way merger with rivals to create a producer that can dominate Japan and weather a shrinking global PC market.

Vaio expects to strike an agreement to combine with Toshiba Corp and Fujitsu's PC divisions by the end of March, said Hidemi Moue, chief executive officer of Japan Industrial Partners, the buyout fund that now controls the former arm of Sony. Vaio expects to own the biggest stake in the merged company, which can help the trio save on research and development and scale production, he said.

The proposed merger mirrors the consolidation of Japanese display makers and semiconductor firms, after decades of stagnation and a loss of competitiveness relegated former household names to the industry's sidelines. The prevalence of smartphones and tablets in particul…