3M to buy Sumitomo stake for $885 million to control Japan business

(Reuters) - 3M Co (MMM.N) will pay about $885 million (516.49 million pounds) for Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd's stake in their Japan joint venture, giving the diversified U.S. manufacturer full control of the business, 3M said on Wednesday.

The deal is expected to add about 8 cents per share to earnings in the first 12 months after it closes, 3M said. Analysts, on average, expect 3M to earn $7.46 per share in 2014, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company will buy Sumitomo's 25 percent stake in the Sumitomo 3M Ltd subsidiary for 90 billion Japanese yen. The cash transaction will give 3M 100 percent ownership upon the expected closing of the deal in September.

3M's share of earnings from Japan will rise to 10 percent from 9 percent previously due to the transaction, analysts at William Blair estimated.

"While Japan may be growth challenged, the business is profitable and strong for 3M," Sanford Bernstein analyst Steven Winoker wrote in a research note.

The joint venture was formed in 1961 between 3M, Sumitomo and NEC Corp . 3M acquired NEC's stake in 2003, increasing 3M's interest to 75 percent.

3M has said it plans to spend $5 billion to $10 billion on acquisitions through 2017, including possible "multibillion-dollar" transactions that could exceed its previous deal sizes of as much as $1 billion apiece.

3M shares were up 0.2 percent to $145.37 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Bernadette Baum)