Nippon Sheet Glass recently said it intends to raise around US$ 352m through a private share placement as the company seeks to invest in cutting-edge products aimed at widening profit margins amid intense competition. The glassmaker will issue preferred shares without voting rights to a fund managed by Japan Industrial Solutions - a joint venture of Japan's three mega-banks and the government funded Development Bank of Japan, and another by UDS Mezzanine Fund, set up by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and the DBJ. NSG is the world's second largest glassmaker, with a production network spanning 28 countries. Its share of the global flat-glass market is estimated at 7%, second to Asahi Glass' at 8%. As a glassmaking specialist, the company has focused on developing high-performance products, such as automotive glass that blocks UV rays and low-distortion windshields that let cameras used in autonomous driving systems capture images more accurately.
