TOKYO -- Hitachi intends to auction its once-prized chemical subsidiary in a drastic move to pare its sprawling business portfolio and to focus resources on infrastructure and factory automation operations, Nikkei has learned.
The Japanese technology group will start taking bids for Hitachi Chemical as early as May. Domestic rivals Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Mitsui Chemicals and Sumitomo Chemical are believed to be interested, as are U.S. buyout firms KKR and The Carlyle Group.
