Nidec : Japan's Nidec to buy MHI's machine tool unit as it bolsters EV motor business

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nidec Corp said it will acquire a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries that makes machine and cutting tools as it bolsters a push in motors for electric vehicles (EV).

Nidec will buy the business from Japan's biggest machinery maker for around 30 billion yen ($284 million) in a deal that will help it improve the gearing technology in its EV motors, according to an earlier report in the Nikkei newspaper.

A spokesman for Nidec, which announced the deal on Friday, declined to say how much the deal was worth.

The maker of small precision motors used in computer hard drives and other electronic equipment is attempting to capture around a third of a new market for energy-saving electric motor technology known as e-axle or e-drive, which is expected to grow 10 times over the next decade.

($1 = 105.5800 yen)

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)