Pirelli and Furukawa: jv in Brazil
Pirelli and Furukawa Set Up a Joint-Venture for Fiber Optic Production in Brazil
The new company will be a key player for the Brazilian market, stimulating its growth in the future
San Paolo, 2 February 2005 - Pirelli Telecomunicaes Cabos e Sistemas do Brasil S.A. - Brazilian subsidiary of Pirelli Telecom Cables and Systems - and Furukawa Industrial Produtos Eltricos signed today an agreement to set up a joint-venture for fiber optic production in Brazil. The new company, named SPF - Sociedade Produtora de Fibras pticas S.A.- is 51% owned by Pirelli and 49% by Furukawa; the registered office is at Sorocaba (San Paolo), in the existing Pirelli plant.
Pirelli and Furukawa decided to merge their fiber optic activities in Brazil in order to catch all the opportunities that could derive from the recovery of the Brazilian telecommunications market: after last years slowdown, in fact, SPF aims to become a key player of the market, stimulating at the same time its future growth.
"We think that the creation of SPF could strengthen both Pirelli and Furukawa, because it will generate important industrial synergies. The new joint-venture will in fact be able to offer the Latin American market a wide portfolio of competitive products and advanced optical solutions", said Armando Comparato, Director of Pirelli Telecomunicaes Cabos e Sistemas do Brasil.
"This agreement between two of the most important fiber optic producers in the world aims to confirm Brazil as a country with highly technologic productions and beware of markets evolutions", added Furukawas President, Foad Shaikhzadeh.
SPF will offer its clients fiber optic compliant with all the most advanced Brazilian and international standards.
The operation is subject to customary regulatory approvals.
About Pirelli
Pirelli is a global producer of Tyres, Energy and Telecommunication Cables and Systems. Active also in the Real Estate sector, Pirelli is one of the worlds leading companies in all these sectors with more than 36,000 employees, 77 production sites, and total sales of 6.671 billion Euros at 31st December 2003.
It focuses its R& D, production resources and competencies on leading-edge technologies, as demonstrated by the advanced Pirelli Labs in the photonics, broadband access and new materials fields and by MIRS - Modular Integrated Robotized System for tyres production.
In 2001, Pirelli also acquired - via the company Olimpia - a stake in Telecom Italia group, one of the leading European telecom operators.
Additional information on Pirelli is available at: http://www.pirelli.com.
About Furukawa Electric
The Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. is a $7 billion global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of fiber optic products, electronics components, power cables, nonferrous metals, and other advanced technology products.
Its fiber optic product offerings include a full range of core alignment and mass fusion splicers and related splicing tools and equipment. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Furukawa Electric operates facilities in United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Asian countries.
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