Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings to Acquire Mitsubishi Rayon

Tokyo, Nov. 19 (Jiji Press)--Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp.
<4188> has reached a final agreement to acquire Mitsubishi Rayon Co. <3404>,
it was learned Thursday.

The top Japanese chemical producer will make a formal decision on
the acquisition plan at its board meeting Thursday morning and make an
announcement in the day's afternoon, sources familiar with the matter said.
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings plans to launch a tender offer for
Mitsubishi Rayon shares by the end of March 2010, aiming to take full
control of the company, the sources said. Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings'
total acquisition costs are seen to reach some 200 billion yen.
The two companies' combined sales in fiscal 2008 that ended last
March stood at 3.25 trillion yen.
By placing Mitsubishi Rayon under its wing, Mitsubishi Chemical
Holdings aims to expand its lineup of high-function materials such as carbon
fiber in a bid to survive growing competition with rivals from China and
Middle East countries, according to the sources.
Mitsubishi Rayon hopes to reinforce its management base under
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings as its financial burden swelled following its
acquisition earlier this year of British chemical maker Lucite International
Group, which has the top share of the global methyl methacrylate monomer
market.
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings currently has Mitsubishi Chemical
Corp., Mitsubishi Plastics Inc. and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. as key
units.