Hitachi, Sunway form IT service joint venture

KUALA LUMPUR: Hitachi Systems Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, has entered into a joint-venture partnership with Sunway Technology to establish an IT service joint venture in Southeast Asia, with emphasis on Malaysia.

Hitachi Systems and Sunway Technology will jointly establish an operating company for the provision of IT services in Malaysia and throughout Southeast Asia, said the two companies in a joint statement yesterday.

The operations of several Sunway Technology's subsidiaries will be consolidated under Sunway E-Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sunway Technology.

Hitachi Systems will then acquire 51 per cent of Sunway E-Systems' shares from Sunway Technology, making Sunway E-Systems a joint venture.

The name of the joint-venture company is Hitachi Sunway Information Systems (subject to approval from the authorities).

In addition to the existing subsidiaries in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, Sunway E-Systems will also form a subsidiary in Vietnam this year.

"We believe this joint venture will provide customers in Southeast Asia with sophisticated IT platforms and solutions," Naoya Takahashi, president and CEO of Hitachi Systems Ltd, said on the partnership.

"The collaboration will enable the two companies to make further inroads and open new markets in the region," said Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, the main shareholder of Sunway Technology and founder and chairman of Sunway Group.