Sony
has announced that it has sold off its Sony City Osaka, Tokyo-based headquarters for $1.2 billion. The struggling Japanese technology giant has sold the property to Nippon Building Fund and an unspecified Japanese institutional investor, but will remain the lessee for the next five years. About 40 percent of the sale will be recorded as part of its operating income for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, with the rest used to retire debt owed on the property.
"Sony is transforming its business portfolio and reorganizing its assets in an effort to strengthen its corporate structure. This sale was conducted as a part of this reorganization," the company said in a statement. The sale of Sony's Tokyo-based office follows
the sale of its US-based headquarters, which netted the company $700 million after paying out money owed on the property.
Sony is in the midst of the
most significant restructures in its corporate history as it struggles to gain traction in many of its key markets, including televisions and consumer electronics products. The rise of Samsung and LG in the flat panel segment has come at the expense of not only Sony, but other Japanese icons including Sharp and Panasonic. Similarly the rise of Apple and Samsung in the consumer technology space has also drastically affected its fortunes.
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