Dec 2nd - Lawson to buy HMV Japan for 1.8 bn JPY

Lawson Inc. has said that it will buy music retailer HMV Japan's shares on December 1st for JPY1.8bn. HMV Japan is in all sorts of financial trouble, and lost JPY4.6bn in FY2009 ending April 30th this year. It still has 37 stores around the country and Lawson appears to be interested in continuing to operate these.