2014

July 31, 2014

Minebea Co., Ltd.

Subscription for Shares of JAPAN 3D DEVICES Co., Ltd. through Third Party Allotment

At the meeting of the Board of Directors held on July 31, 2014, Minebea Co., Ltd. ("Minebea", Head Office: Miyota-machi, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano, Representative Director, President and CEO: Yoshihisa Kainuma) resolved to subscribe for the new shares of JAPAN 3D DEVICES Co., Ltd. ("J3DD", Head Office: Kashiwazaki-shi, Niigata, President: Tomoyuki Saito), a manufacturer of high precision 3D molded thin glasses, including concave mirrors (reflectors), etc. for use in head-up displays ("HUDs") for automobiles through third party allotment. J3DD is a subsidiary of Okamoto Glass Co., Ltd. ("Okamoto Glass", Head Office: Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, President and CEO : Tsuyoshi Okamoto), a manufacturing and sales company of reflectors for projectors, fry-eye integrator lenses, and cover glasses for automotives, lighting and illumination. Okamoto Glass, J3DD and Minebea have entered into the relevant agreements as of the same date.

375 million yen will be paid in July 31, 2014 for the subscription of new shares via third-party allotment. As of the said date, Minebea will be the largest shareholder of J3DD through 51.73% shareholding of the company. J3DD's business continues to be carried out primarily by Okamoto Glass, which has the expertise and knowledge for the manufacture of high precision 3D molded thin glasses.

Reasons for Subscription for J3DD Shares in the Third Party Allotment

Okamoto glass was founded in 1928 as a glass manufacturer, and in April 14, 2014 established J3DD, a producer of high precision 3D molded thin glasses, with a view to capitalizing on the projected market expansion of such business including HUDs for automotive use, and have looked for the investors in the company for its business promotion and expansion.

On the other hand, aiming at promoting the second of its "Five Arrows" strategies of developing new EMS products / EMS components (hybrid components) and expanding their sales, Minebea has been trying to develop a new hybrid type of components using its own actuators for HUDs, the undertaking of which has started several years before. Concave mirrors for use in HUDs, manufactured by J3DD, have such features as high productivity and high precision, thereby providing superior competitive advantages, through the utilization of proprietary precision 3D molding thin glass processing technologies as well as silver deposition technologies. Through the capital investment in J3DD, Minebea is projected to work in collaboration with J3DD and Okamoto Glass for the development of EMS products equipped with concave mirrors for HUDs with a view to accelerating the launch of the products for the HUD market.

In addition, the companies plan to expand their customer base by taking advantage of Minebea's global sales offices in providing sales support of such products as concave mirrors for HUDs, etc. for the customers in overseas countries.

Market for Automotive HUDs and Concave Mirrors for HUDs

Automotive HUDs are the technologies and displaying devices, enabling drivers to read relevant information without moving their eyes to a large extent by displaying a variety of information such as the speed of the vehicle and maps on a windshield and a combiner. Such devices have been introduced extensively worldwide for the purpose of ensuring safe driving, that the market is expected to expand rapidly as the shipments of HUDs are projected to surpass 10 million units annually by 2020. As for concave mirrors for HUDs, plastic injection molded materials have been used primarily up to now. However, due to the problems of heat resistance and higher costs associated with such materials, demand for glass products having a 3D shape with a thin plate has been increasing lately. J3DD is slated to establish as soon as possible a mass production system of glass concave mirrors for HUDs with complex shapes that cannot be matched by other glass manufacturers technically, thereby adequately responding to the accelerated conversion to glasses as the concave mirrors for HUDs in the near future.

Outline of J3DD (as of July 31, 2014)

Outline of Okamoto Glass

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