3 companies to link LCD businesses

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Hitachi Ltd. and Canon Inc. said they would link up their liquid crystal display businesses. The deal creates a third major force in the flat-panel industry in Japan along with Sony Corp.’s alliance with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and the Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp. team, which was announced last week.

The alliance is expected to help Hitachi restructure its sprawling portfolio of subsidiary companies and enable Matsushita, which owns the Panasonic brand and is known for its plasma televisions, to raise its profile in the LCD sector.