TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon Inc said it would pay $403 million for a quarter stake in Hitachi Ltd’s LCD panel business to get its own supply of parts for its cameras and copiers. Canon and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. agreed in December to buy 24.9 percent each of the LCD panel maker, Hitachi Displays, now wholly owned by Hitachi. Canon, the world’s largest maker of digital cameras, currently has to buy LCD panels for its cameras, camcorders, copiers and printers.

Wednesday’s announcement of the price Canon will pay is the latest in a flurry of alliances in Japan’s LCD panel and flat TV industry as companies seek ways to share hefty investment bills and hedge against the risk of oversupply. Canon wants to eventually buy Hitachi Displays stakes from Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic products, and Hitachi Ltd to make it a subsidiary. Matsushita has so far not revealed the purchase for its quarter.

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