Toyota says to sell $1.8 billion worth of KDDI shares By Reuters

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<span>© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Toyota logo at the Tokyo Motor Show, in Tokyo, Japan October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo</span><br />
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<p>TOKYO (Reuters) -Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it will sell a stake worth about 250 billion yen ($1.80 billion) in telecoms company KDDI (OTC:) Corp as part of an effort to raise funds to accelerate vehicle electrification.</p>
<p>The world’s largest automaker by sales last month unveiled sweeping plans to improve the driving range and cut costs of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), including through development of solid-state batteries, as it seeks to catch up on rivals. </p>
<p>Toyota previously rolled out a goal of selling 3.5 million BEVs in 2030 and investing a total of about 5 trillion yen for BEV-related businesses by the end of the decade.</p>
<p>It said in a statement on Friday a “large amount of investment is needed” to survive amid fierce competition and achieve medium- and long-term growth.</p>
<p>Japan’s KDDI will buy back shares at 3,900 yen a piece between July 31 and Aug. 28, Toyota said, or 8.7% lower than KDDI’s closing price of 4,271 yen on Friday.</p>
<p>The sale will cut the automaker’s stake in KDDI to 11.71% from 14.68%.</p>
<p>Toyota’s ties with KDDI date back to that late 1980s, when Japan liberalised its telecommunications sector. The automaker had participated in the founding of one of KDDI’s predecessor companies.</p>
<p>In 2020, Toyota said it would invest 52.2 billion yen in the mobile carrier to deepen their partnership.</p>
<p>They also formed a business alliance for research and development on projects such as telecommunications platforms to connect cars and homes.</p>
<p>($1 = 139.0500 yen)</p>
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