Diamond Lease to take over Kyocera's property finance unit

TOKYO -- Diamond Lease Co. said Thursday it will purchase in August a 100 percent stake, or 331,000 shares, in Kyocera Leasing Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyoto-based electronics maker Kyocera Corp.

The acquisition will mark a major push by Diamond Lease into the loan business targeted at individuals investing in real estate, one of Kyocera Leasing's key operations, as called for by Diamond's medium-term business plan to bolster its property business.

The purchase cost, which has not been made public, is estimated at 20 billion yen, according to industry sources.

Kyocera Leasing had total assets worth some 130 billion yen as of the end of March. It will be renamed Diamond Asset Finance after its takeover by Diamond Lease.

The new acquisition will not affect Diamond Lease's current forecast of consolidated earnings for the year ending next March, the company said.