Sanyo Electric acquires house-builder Kubota

The Japanese cell and module manufacturer Sanyo Electric acquires Kubota and will offer their houses equipped with PV systems.

Sanyo Electric Co. will take over all shares of Kubota Corp.’s fully owned housing construction subsidiary, Kubota House Co., on April 1, 2002 for a price not yet determined.

Japan’s third-largest producer of solar modules has already been active in the housing business for six years, building condominiums and importing pre-fabricated houses. But with the investment in Kubota, it also hopes to add value and provide synergies to its existing businesses. Sanyo plans to offer Kubota’s pre-fabricated houses with Sanyo’s home appliance products, air-conditioning systems, and solar modules and inverters.

Kubota House is capitalized at ¥2 billion JPY ($16.2 million USD); it posted ¥24.4 billion ($198 million) in sales and ¥168 million ($1.4 million) in pretax losses in its last fiscal year. The company employs about 900 people and estimates sales of 1,540 houses in FY 2001, which ends in March. ms
 

Michael Schmela
© PHOTON International, January 2002