Toshiba sells off stake in Finland�s Kone

AFP, TOKYO:  Toshiba has sold its stake in Finnish engineering giant Kone for almost $1.0 billion to bolster its balance sheet, the firm said yesterday, after its president and a string of other executives quit over an accounting scandal.
The vast Japanese conglomerate said its elevator unit sold about 24 million shares, or 4.6 per cent of Kone’s outstanding stock, for a total of 864.7 million euros ($945 million).
“(Toshiba) decided to sell the shares in order to utilise the company’s group assets and improve its balance sheet,” it said. The Finnish firm is a major producer of elevators and escalators.
Toshiba’s announcement comes a day after company president Hisao Tanaka and several other senior figures resigned over a $1.2 billion accounting scandal blamed on their overzealous pursuit of profit.
A report by a company-hired panel said managers were involved in “systematically” inflating profits for years to cover up poor performance, dealing a serious blow to Japan Inc.’s reputation.
Earlier this year, Toshiba said it was getting out the North American television business and selling its brand in the market to a Taiwanese manufacturer, while it is also considering selling off some of its stake in US-based Westinghouse.
The huge company has more than 200,000 employees globally involved in businesses ranging from washing machines and memory chips to power generation and medical equipment.

Toshiba sells off stake in Finland�s Kone

AFP, TOKYO: Toshiba has sold its stake in Finnish engineering giant Kone for almost $1.0 billion to bolster its balance sheet, the firm said yesterday, after its president and a string of other executives quit over an accounting scandal. The vast Japanese conglomerate said its elevator unit sold about 24 million shares, or 4.6 per cent of Kones outstanding stock, for a total of 864.7 million euros ($945 million). (Toshiba) decided to sell the shares in order to utilise the companys group assets and improve its balance sheet, it said. The Finnish firm is a major producer of elevators and escalators. Toshibas announcement comes a day after company president Hisao Tanaka and several other senior figures resigned over a $1.2 billion accounting scandal blamed on their overzealous pursuit of profit. A report by a company-hired panel said managers were involved in systematically inflating profits for years to cover up poor performance, dealing a serious blow to Japan Inc.s reputation. Earlier this year, Toshiba said it was getting out the North American television business and selling its brand in the market to a Taiwanese manufacturer, while it is also considering selling off some of its stake in US-based Westinghouse. The huge company has more than 200,000 employees globally involved in businesses ranging from washing machines and memory chips to power generation and medical equipment.