Sony gives nod to sell Vaio to investment fund

Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp. has agreed to sell its Vaio personal computer business to a Tokyo- based investment fund, Japan Industrial Partners Inc., according to local media Thursday. In a move to revive the struggling business, Sony, through the sale, aims to turn around the business which faces fierce price competition, said Japan's Kyodo News, citing unnamed sources. As a part of the electronics maker's wider restructuring, Sony President Kazuo Hirai is expected to announce the move at a press conference later in the day, said Kyodo. Meanwhile, Kyodo said Sony will go into red in fiscal 2013 as its net loss stood at 110 billion yen (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars). On Wednesday, local reports said that the sale would be between 40 billion yen to 50 billion yen (about 396 million to 495 million U.S. dollars). Sony shares on Wednesday rose 4.57 percent to 1,600 yen in Tokyo, rebounding from its losses in the previous day on the back of a broad market slump. Sony only had a 1.9-percent share of the global personal computer market in the first nine months of 2013, according to Japan's Nikkei business daily.