Hitachi Metals : in talks with Bain to sell metals unit for over 800 billion yen - Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi Ltd picked a group led by Bain Capital as the preferential bidder for its metals unit in a deal likely to top 800 billion yen ($7.3 billion), Nikkei reported on Thursday.

Bain, Japan Industrial Partners and Japan Industrial Solutions are considering buying a 53% stake in Hitachi Metals, the financial daily said.

Hitachi Metals recently announced it was buying U.S. software company GlobalLogic for $9.6 billion. But in recent years it has also been divesting domestic hardware assets, including chemical and imaging businesses, aiming to pivot to services instead.

A Hitachi representative was not immediately available for comment. The company previously said it was considering ways to bolster its corporate value.

($1 = 109.8500 yen)

(Reporting by Tokyo Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)