Toray Industries, Inc.,has agreed to divest its entire 25% stake in Japan Vilene Company, Ltd., to Germany’s Freudenberg SE for around ¥17 billion ($110 million). Japan Vilene and Freudenberg establishd the joint venture, based in Tokyo, in 2016.

This decision followed discussions with Freudenberg, which informed Toray in June this year that it would exercise its call option under the joint venture arrangement. Toray expects to sign the share sale agreement in December after Freudenberg completes its internal procedures.

The Toray Group will continue supplying products that match Japan Vilene’s needs in medical, energy, air conditioning, automotive, and other applications. The agreement will be signed December 15, 2025 with the transacation sheduled for February 2026.

JVC offers a broad portfolio of products for a wide range of “automotive, medical, electrical and Industrial applications. The company operates 15 production sites worldwide, including two sites in Japan. Working in close cooperation with Freudenberg Performance Materials and Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, Japan Vilene Company operates a network of production and sales joint ventures throughout Asia.

In February 2016, Freudenberg and Toray signed a new joint venture agreement. Based on that, Freudenberg gained control of JVC in April 2016. Since then, JVC has been operating as a Freudenberg business group in the “Technical Textiles and Filtration” business area.