TOKYO, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Harmonic Drive Systems ( 6324.T ), a Japanese gearbox maker, said on Wednesday that Toyota Motor ( 7203.T ) will sell its entire stake in the company in the open market overseas.
The move could fuel hopes among investors that Toyota will speed up sales of stakes in affiliates and partners after announcing last week that it would divest a stake in supplier Denso( 6902. T), a pillar of the Toyota batch.
The share sale comes after the world’s best-selling automaker said in July it would sell some of its holdings in telecoms giant KDDI ( 9433.T ) as it invests in accelerating electrification.
Toyota will sell 4,379,400 shares of Harmonic Drive Systems at an undisclosed sale price, the precision control equipment maker said in a regulatory filing.
The stake was worth 18.1 billion yen ($123 million) at Wednesday’s closing price of 4,135 yen per share.
Harmonic Drive Systems said it will repurchase up to 700,000 of its own shares, worth up to 0.73% of its stock, to reduce the impact of the sale on its shareholders.
($1 = ¥147.0500)
