On December 25, Japanese flat-panel makers Hitachi, Canon, and Matsushita Electric Industrial announced that they have reached a preliminary agreement to team up in a bid to lower the production and development costs of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels, Nikkei Electronics reported.

As per the agreement, Matsushita and Canon will each acquire a stake of 24.9% in Hitachi Display, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi that manufactures small- and medium-sized LCD panels. Hitachi will hold the remaining 50.2%. The transaction is slated for completion by March 31, 2008. When the transaction is completed, the JV plans to invest 30 billion Yen (US$265.0 million; US$1 = 113.2 Yen) in building a new 8G plant, according to the Nikkei Electronics report.

Pursuant to the agreement, all parities also agreed to jointly develop OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Display) panels. Financial terms of this agreement were not disclosed.