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Greenville, S.C. - KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM) ("KEMET"), a leading global supplier of electronic components, today announced that NEC TOKIN Corporation, a joint venture between KEMET Electronics Corporation and NEC Corporation, reached a preliminary settlement with plaintiffs in two related U.S. antitrust class action suits.
"A significant hurdle to our acquisition of NEC TOKIN has been cleared," stated Per Loof, KEMET's Chief Executive Officer. "This settlement helps to open a path for implementation of our plan to complete the acquisition. We have been working closely with NEC Corporation to develop the strategy for the consummation of the acquisition and hope to be able to communicate to the investment community in a reasonable time frame the mechanics and timing of the closing of the acquisition. This agreement as well as the governmental fines assessed to NEC TOKIN, to date the most significant of which permit payments over time, will allow us to continue to follow our business strategies upon combination. While we still await some government jurisdictions to complete their review and assess any potential liability, our target is to complete a transaction later this calendar year. We believe that the transaction will benefit the ongoing businesses of KEMET and NEC TOKIN, providing increased shareholder value well into the future," continued Loof.
Pursuant to the terms of the settlement that has been reached in principle, in consideration of its release from the class action suits, NEC TOKIN will pay an aggregate $37.25 million to a settlement class of direct purchasers of capacitors and a settlement class of indirect purchasers of capacitors. Payments shall be made in installments, with the initial installment due 15 days after execution of the definitive settlement agreement, and annual installments extending through December, 2019. NEC TOKIN and the plaintiffs are working to finalize the settlement in a definitive settlement agreement, the terms of which are subject to court approval.
NEC TOKIN, a Japanese corporation, is a joint venture in which KEMET's wholly-owned subsidiary, KEMET Electronics Corporation, owns a 34% equity interest and 51% voting ownership interest, and NEC Corporation (together with a subsidiary thereof) owns a 66% equity interest and 49% voting ownership interest.
About KEMET
The Company's common stock is listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "KEM" (NYSE: KEM). At the Investor Relations section of our web site at http://www.kemet.com/IR, users may subscribe to KEMET news releases and find additional information about our Company. KEMET applies world class service and quality to deliver industry leading, high performance capacitance solutions to its customers around the world and offers the world's most complete line of surface mount and through-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, film, aluminum, electrolytic, and paper dielectrics. Additional information about KEMET can be found at http://www.kemet.com.