"We have agreed (with Hitachi and Toshiba) on that and will announce it later today," said Mitsuru Ishii, a spokeswoman for Matsushita.

She declined to confirm details reported by the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Under the agreement, the three firms would jointly build a plant at the site of an Hitachi LCD subsidiary in Chiba, east of Tokyo, with operations scheduled to start in 2006, the business daily said Tuesday.

Of total investment estimated at 100 billion yen (920 million dollars), Hitachi is expected to put up around 50 percent, with the rest to be divided between Matsushita and Toshiba, the daily said.

A spokesman at Hitachi declined to confirm the report.

The three firms would also call on other hi-tech firms, such as Mitsubishi Electric, to participate in the plan, the daily said, adding the three companies planned to raise five billion yen by seeking capital from other electrical machinery makers.

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