Hitachi, Sagawa Express said to form tie up, consider merger

[TOKYO] Hitachi Ltd's transportation unit and Japanese logistics company Sagawa Express Co will tie up their distribution businesses and consider a possible merger, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Hitachi will sell about 30 per cent stake in Hitachi Transport System Ltd to SG Holdings Co, the owner of Sagawa, said one person, who asked not to be identified because a final decision hasn't been made.

Closely-held SG Holdings will sell about 20 per cent of Sagawa to Hitachi Transport, said the other person, who asked not to be identified as the information isn't public.

Sagawa, Japan's second-largest courier service, and Hitachi will both hold separate board meetings Wednesday and announce their decisions at a press conference later in the day, the two people said. The Nikkei reported the tie-up and a possible merger earlier today.

Hitachi Transport rose as much as 10 per cent to 1,997 yen and traded at 1,941 yen as of 11:05 am in Tokyo. Hitachi fell 2.2 per cent to 531.6 yen as the Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.3 per cent.

Hitachi will hold a board meeting today to discuss transferring Hitachi Transport shares to SG Holdings, the company said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. SG said they are not the source of today's report and they will make any announcements in a timely manner, according to a statement on their website Wednesday.

BLOOMBERG