Media reports that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is preparing to sell its forklift unit Mitsubishi Logisnext by the end of March, have been met with a response from the company which did little to dampen the speculation.

Nikkei Asia broke a story last week saying the preparation for the sale came as “the group ramps up efforts to boost capital efficiency”, adding both companies had selected a financial advisor for the sale and that “multiple investment funds have expressed an interest”.

According to the news report, Logisnext's market capitalisation is around JPY120 billion (USD801 million), adding Mitsubishi Heavy Industries could sell the entirety of its stake in the company, which was reported at about 64.6%, potentially making the deal worth as much as JPY100 billion (USD668 million).

Logisnext released a statement earlier this week addressing the reports. 

The statement in full reads: “Today, some media outlets reported on the sale of shares in our company by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., but this was not announced by our company. While we are exploring various possibilities for strategies that contribute to the sustainable growth of our group and the enhancement of our medium-term and long-term corporate value including this matter, there are currently no decisions that have been made.”

In November Mitsubishi Logisnext revised down its yearly earnings forecast after revealing its operating profit fell 32.1% year-on-year in the six months to September 30 to JPY15.22 billion (USD98.73 million).