PRE-MARKET JAPANESE STOCK NEWS: Highlights include: Hitachi (6501 JT) will acquire Finmeccanica’s railway business in a deal valued over JPY 250bln

Asahi Kasei (3407 JT)
- Co. to expand its battery business by acquiring Polypore in a deal valued at about USD 3.2bln. (BBG)

Daiwa House (1925 JT)
- Co. Oper. profit is said to possibly reach JPY 200bln next FY. (Nikkei)

Hitachi (6501 JT)
- Co. will acquire Finmeccanica’s railway business in a deal valued over JPY 250bln. (Nikkei)

Honda Motor (7267 JT)
- Co. president Ito is to step down and will become an adviser, while Hachigo is to be his replacement. (BBG)

KDDI (9433 JT)
- Co. is to sell its 4.85% stake in Inmarsat worth around GBP 193mln. (BBG)

Makita (6586 JT)
- BASF (BAS GY) filed a US trade complaint to block Co.’s power tools. (BBG)

Skymark (9204 JT)
- Several foreign and domestic airlines are said to be seeking a tie up with the Co. (Nikkei)

Broker moves
- Trend Micro (4704 JT) upgraded to overweight at MUFJ Morgan Stanley.
- Tokyo Gas (9531 JT) downgraded to neutral at Goldman Sachs.
- Shikoku Electric (9507 JT) downgraded to sell at Goldman Sachs.
- Shimano (7309 JT) downgraded to neutral at JPMorgan.
- Okuma (6103 JT) upgraded to neutral at Credit Suisse.
- Kuraray (3405 JT) upgraded to overweight at Barclays.
- Kyushu Electric (9508 JT) upgraded to neutral at Goldman Sachs.
- Hokuriku Electric (9505 JT) downgraded to sell at Goldman Sachs.

23 Feb 2015 - 23:17- Equities- Source: BBG