Tokyo/Singapore — Japan’s Toshiba has said it will pay more than $800m to an unidentified overseas “buyer” to exit its US liquefied natural gas (LNG) business as part of a five-year plan to shed money-losing assets. The sale is the disappointing culmination of a venture that puzzled analysts when it was announced in 2013. Asian LNG prices have plunged 42% in the past five years. The potential for future losses spurred Toshiba’s exit, the company said. Under the deal, Toshiba will transfer to the unidentified buyer its Toshiba America LNG unit and its about $7bn commitment starting in 2020 to purchase 2.2-million tons per year of the fuel over 20 years from Freeport LNG in Texas. Toshiba will pay the buyer a one-off payment of $821m, or about 93-billion yen, the company said. The company booked a charge of 93-billion yen for exiting the LNG business in its earnings it announced on Thursday. The Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday, without citing a source for the information, t...
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