TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 5, 2025--
Asahi Kasei will discontinue production of hexamethylene diamine (HMD) as part of its ongoing portfolio optimization, aiming to enhance capital efficiency and strengthen the company’s earnings profile.
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HMD and its by-product, propionitrile, are used in materials such as polyamide 66 (PA66), hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), and resin hardening agents. Based on an assessment of market dynamics, competitiveness, and future capital requirements, Asahi Kasei has decided to exit HMD production. The phase-out will be completed by April 2027.
This discontinuation will not affect the production of Asahi Kasei’s PA66 resin and filament in Nobeoka, nor the production of HDI and its derivatives in Hyuga—both located in Miyazaki Prefecture. All affected employees will be reassigned to other roles within the company. The impact on Asahi Kasei’s consolidated performance forecast is expected to be immaterial.
Under its three-year medium-term management plan "Trailblaze Together," Asahi Kasei is improving capital efficiency and accelerating earnings by converting past growth investments into tangible returns. To support this, the company is implementing structural reforms that channel resources to its key growth pillars—pharmaceuticals, critical care, overseas homes, and electronics.
Recent actions that reinforce Asahi Kasei’s portfolio optimization include the divestiture of Daramic, a lead-battery separator company, and expanding capacity for Pimel photosensitive polyimide. These demonstrate the company’s disciplined execution of this strategy and reinforce the foundation for sustained, profitable growth.
About Asahi Kasei
The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber business, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 50,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to sustainable society by providing solutions to the world’s challenges through its three business sectors of Healthcare, Homes, and Material. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com.
Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/.
Progress of Asahi Kasei's business portfolio transformation.
NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix has struck a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to buy the legacy Hollywood giant’s studio and streaming business for $72 billion.
The acquisition, announced Friday, would bring two of the industry’s biggest players in film and TV under one roof. Beyond its namesake television and motion picture division, Warner owns HBO Max and DC Studios. And Netflix has rose to dominance as a household name ubiquitous to on-demand content, while building of its own production arm to release popular titles like “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game.”
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion. The transaction is expected to close after Warner separates its Discovery Global cable operations into a new publicly-traded company in the third quarter of 2026.
Shares of Warner Bros. rose nearly 3% in premarket trading while shares of Netflix and Paramount fell more than 2%.
Gaining Warner’s legacy studios would mark a notable shift for Netflix’s current movie theater footprint. Under the proposed acquisition Netflix has promised to continue theatrical releases for Warner’s studio films — honoring Warner’s contractual agreements for movie releases.
Netflix has kept most of its original content within its core online platform. But there’s been few exceptions, such as limited theater screenings of a “KPop Demon Hunters” sing-a-long and its coming “Stranger Things” series finale.
As recently as October — when Warner signaled that it was open to a potential sale of its business — Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos reiterated on an earnings call that the company had been “very clear in the past that we have no interest in owning legacy media networks” and that there was “no change there.”
“We believe that we can be and we will be choosy,” Sarandos said at the time, without fully ruling out a potential bid for Warner.
Friday’s announcement arrives after a monthslong bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. Rumors of interest from Netflix, as well as NBC owner Comcast, starting bubbling up in the fall. But Skydance-owned Paramount, which completed its own $8 billion merger in August, had also reportedly made several all-cash offers backed heavily by CEO David Ellison’s family.
Paramount seemed like the frontrunner for some time — and unlike Netflix or Comcast, was reportedly vying to buy Warner’s entire company, including its cable business housing networks like CNN and Discovery.
FILE - A visitor walks past portraits of DC Comics superheroes as she enters the "Action and Magic Made Here" interactive experience at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood media preview on June 24, 2021, in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - The Netflix logo is shown in this photo from the company's website on Feb. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
