Nov 12th - Kyocera, others to invest up to $370 mln in JAL

Kyocera, Nomura, Daiwa in final talks to invest in JAL·      

Japanese electronics firm Kyocera Corp and brokerages Nomura Securities and Daiwa Securities are in the final stage of talks to invest 20-30 billion yen ($247-370 million) in Japan Airlines, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The investment would be part of a planned capital increase for JAL as the bankrupt carrier, aiming to turn around its business, seeks to bolster its financial base, the report said without citing sources.

JAL filed for bankruptcy in January with $25 billion in debt and is carrying out drastic restructuring to help rebuild its business under court-managed rehabilitation.

JAL's chairman Kazuo Inamori, also the founder and honorary chairman of Kyocera, told reporters last month that the carrier plans to boost its capital by another 50 billion yen in addition to a planned 350 billion yen investment by the government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp.

Asked what kind of investors JAL is seeking, Inamori said at the time that the carrier was considering various options. He did not rule out foreign investment.

Kyocera has not received any official request from JAL for investment, Kyocera spokesman Kenji Sugiuchi said on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Nomura Securities, a unit of Nomura Holdings, said nothing concrete has been decided, while a Daiwa spokeswoman said it had no comment.

Kyocera shares rose 0.9 percent to 8,640 by midday. Nomura Holdings gained 4.2 percent to 446 yen and Daiwa advanced 3.5 percent to 357 yen while the benchmark Nikkei 225 average gained 1.2 percent. ($1=81.09 Yen).