Kyocera today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with Sony Corporation and its subsidiary Sony Mobile Display Corporation (SMD) to acquire part of its Thin Film Transistor (TFT) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) design and manufacturing business.

The acquisition will be undertaken by means of a corporate split, where Kyocera will acquire the TFT LCD facilities of SMD located in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, effective June 1, 2010. Existing employment contracts will be assigned to Kyocera and employees transferred on the same date.

Kyocera's Corporate Thin Film Components Group develops, manufactures and markets small- and medium-sized (under 10.4 inch) LCDs for industrial applications worldwide. The company is known as a stable supplier of STN (passive) and TFT (active) LCDs, with strong capabilities in accommodating specific customer requirements, even in low-volume orders.

The acquisition of SMD's TFT LCD business is intended to strengthen Kyocera's ability to respond to this growth.