NEC sold about three million shares of Thomson, or 1.07 percent of the outstanding shares in June, an NEC spokesman said, without disclosing financial details.

"It was done as part of our strategy to reduce assets and to get rid of interest-bearing debts," the spokesman said.

The Japanese firm was overhauling its European business strategy and would search for new European partners in the areas of mobile phone handsets and computer system construction, a news report said.

NEC wanted to focus on the network business using cellular phones in its operations in Europe, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, without citing sources.

The NEC spokesman declined to comment on the report.

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