2009

Nov.2, 2009

Announcement of a Basic Agreement between Minebea Co., Ltd. and Panasonic Corporation regarding the transfer of Information Equipment Motor Business

Minebea Co., Ltd. ("Minebea") and Panasonic Corporation ("Panasonic") hereby announce that both companies have reached an agreement in principle today regarding the April 2010 targeted transfer of the Information Equipment Motor Business of Panasonic to Minebea Motor Manufacturing Corporation ("Minebea Motor"), a joint venture company established by Minebea and Panasonic. The equity contributions to Minebea Motor (Minebea 60% and Panasonic 40%) will remain the same.

1. Reason for the Transfer

Competition in the information equipment motor market is intensifying owing primarily to the emergence of overseas makers, and at the same time, is becoming very severely affected by the recent economic downturn. On the other hand, new demands have been created in the areas of digital consumer electronics, in-vehicle equipment, office automation equipment, high-performance game machines, and information terminals. Further growth in demand is expected in the information equipment market. The purpose of this business transfer and integration is to develop Minebea Motor further by combining the collective strengths of Minebea, which has put its energy into its motor business, with the brushless DC motor technology Panasonic has cultivated for many years.

2. Outline of the Transfer

(1) Business to be transferred

Assets related to the Information Equipment Motor Business of Motor Company, an internal division company of Panasonic, (including related intellectual property rights, assets of related subsidiaries such as the Xiangzhou plant of Panasonic Motor (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd.) will be transferred, and, as a general rule, the employees of the corresponded business will be employed by Minebea Motor group companies.

Items manufactured and sold by the business

• Small brushless motors (Applications: Optical disk drives, in-vehicle equipment, etc.)
• Power brushless motors (Applications: Printers, etc.)
• Polygon mirror motors (Application: Laser printers)

Size of the business

Net sales: Approx. ¥18.3 billion (for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009)
Number of employees: Approx. 2,600

(2) Transfer price

The transfer price will not be publicly disclosed.

3. Future Outlook

Both parties will proceed with the discussions toward the scheduled conclusion of a definitive agreement in December 2009. The transfer will be executed in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the definitive agreement, and at present, is planned to take place in April 2010.

[ For inquiries ]

Minebea Co., Ltd.	ARCO Tower, 19th Floor, 1-8-1 Shimo-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8662, Japan Corporate Communications Office TEL 81-3-5434-8637 / FAX 81-3-5434-8607
Panasonic Corporation	1006, Oaza Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka 571-8501, Japan PR Group, Corporate Communications Headquarters (Osaka) TEL 81-6-6908-0447 / FAX 81-6-6907-2013 (Tokyo) TEL 81-3-3436-2621 / FAX 81-3-3437-2776

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