Toshiba and Panasonic have been running a joint LCD venture together for a while now called Matsushita Display Technology Co. The joint venture was in the production of LCD panels for computers and other consumer electronics devices. With the poor global economy, it's likely that the venture had fallen on hard times.

Panasonic and Toshiba announced today that Toshiba would be purchasing all of Panasonics shares in the Matsushita displays with the exchange expected to take place on April 28th. After the purchase, Matsushita will be a wholly owned Toshiba subsidy and will be called Toshiba mobile Display Co.

The joint venture was started in 2002 and is an industry leader in small and medium size LCD screens for mobile phones, laptops, and vehicle displays. Panasonic previously held 40% of the company and the venture has 10 billion yen in capital.

Via Toshiba