TOKYO -- Embattled Japanese electronics-maker Toshiba said on Tuesday it has agreed to sell its television subsidiary to Hisense Group, a major Chinese electronics manufacturer.
Toshiba will sell a 95% stake in Toshiba Visual Solutions to Hisense Electric, the group's Shanghai-listed core unit, for 12.9 billion yen ($113.6 million). The Japanese company will retain the remaining 5% stake.
The deal comes as the Japanese conglomerate is divesting various businesses it has deemed to be "noncore" in order to manage the fallout from a substantial loss on its U.S. nuclear unit. Last year, Toshiba sold its white-goods appliance business to China's Midea Group.
The television subsidiary's equity stood at a negative 11.7 billion yen at of the end of March, according to the Tuesday statement from Toshiba. By removing the unit from its balance sheet, Toshiba will be able to record a one-off gain of 25 billion yen for the current fiscal year ending next March.
The television subsidiary produced about 700,000 TV sets during the last fiscal year ending March 2017, a Toshiba spokesman told the Nikkei Asian Review. The unit's annual revenue for the period was 43.7 billion yen, but it recorded an operating loss of 6.137 billion yen. The deal does not include the laying off of any of the company's 700 employees, he said.
The deal, signed on Tuesday, is expected to close as early as February.
Prior to Tuesday's announcement, Toshiba's shares rose 4.7% to close at 292 yen in Tokyo trading, while shares of Hisense Electric fell 2.4% to 15.56 yuan in Shanghai.
