Toyota Motor Corp. will decide whether to increase its stake in KDD Corp., to be set up through the merger of KDD and Teleway Japan Corp., after observing developments in the fast-paced telecommunications industry, Toyota's president said Thursday.
"Technically speaking, it is possible to obtain more shares from the market. We'd like to decide as we watch how the industry moves in forming alliances and mergers," said Toyota President Hiroshi Okuda.
The two telecom firms formally announced Wednesday their plan to merge Dec. 1. The new company is expected to handle projects such as next-generation cellular telephones and mobile telecom systems via satellites.
Toyota, which currently controls 53.7 percent of Teleway, a domestic long-distance telephone carrier, will have an 8.43 percent stake in the new company, the second-largest shareholder after the 9.26 percent stake held by the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry Cooperatives.
Toyota has other telecom affiliates such as Nippon IDO Tsushin Corp., a cellular phone company.
Asked whether the nation's No. 1 automaker will seek to merge IDO into the KDD group, Okuda said the group will eventually have to form an alliance large enough to compete with Japan's telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. "We must also consider cooperation with foreign carriers," he said.