Press Releases

October 3, 2005

Hitachi, Ltd.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Hitachi, Ltd. ("Hitachi", Tokyo, Japan, President & CEO: Etsuhiko Shoyama) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited ("Takeda", Osaka, Japan, President & COO: Yasuchika Hasegawa) announced today that both parties had reached a basic agree-ment on September 29 to establish a joint venture for information system support to which Takeda's current operation in that field will be outsourced.

Under the agreement, Hitachi expects to enhance its entrusting services business leveraged on Hitachi's broad range of technology and resources, and Takeda expects to receive information system support of high quality with the competitive cost for the term of 10 years.

The newly established joint venture will start operation on April 1, 2006. Hitachi and Takeda own its shares by 66% and 34% respectively, and Takeda's shares will totally be transferred to Hitachi on April 1, 2008.

The operation of this new company will be the development and maintenance of Takeda's information system which will be outsourced to that joint venture under a contract with Takeda. Also it will develop information system packages and applications for pharmaceutical industry in general, which Hitachi is now promoting as one of the fast growing business segments.

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About Hitachi
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT/ TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 347,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2004 (ended March 31, 2005) consolidated sales totaled 9,027.0 billion yen ($84.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more
information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

About Takeda
Takeda, (TSE: 4502) located in Osaka, Japan, is a research-based global company with its main focus on pharmaceuticals. As the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry, Takeda is committed to striving toward better health for individuals and progress in medicine by developing superior harmaceutical products.

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