Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI; Nagoya, Japan) is getting out of the biaxially oriented and cast-film-line businesses, having agreed to sell the units to The Japan Steel Works (JSW; Tokyo) as a going concern for ¥650 million ($5.5 million). The transfer will be concluded on Nov. 1. Annual sales of the business are about ¥6 billion ($51 million).

MHI feels its resources would be better focused elsewhere. Film-extrusion lines are actually considered a part of MHI''s Paper & Printing Machinery Division, with injection molding machines sold through a separate company-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology Co. This business is unaffected by the current deal.

For its part, JSW has a wealth of experience in the extrusion field, with particular strengths in industrial- and optical-film manufacturing lines, and will be able to augment its product portfolio in what it considers a core business through addition of technology to manufacture BOPP, BOPET, and BOPA (biaxially oriented polyamide) films. JSW will also take over servicing of existing MHI lines.

The deal involves no transfer of employees. Approximately 100 staff at MHI will be redeployed within the company, mainly to the aerospace business, which among other activities supplies components to Boeing and manufactures Japan H-II rockets.-Stephen Moore; [email protected]