Arcland Sakamoto, a provider of home improvement products, agreed to acquire a 53% stake in LIXIL Viva, an operator of home center chain stores, from LIXIL Group, a Japanese manufacturer of building materials and housing equipment, for $524m. "We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with Arcland Sakamoto and LIXIL VIVA, and believe this will be a positive development for all three parties. This transaction also allows us to strengthen our financial position and further focus our resources on driving synergies across our core businesses. Although LIXIL VIVA has operated independently, the dissolution of any capital relationship will also allow us to further enhance relations with other home retail operators," Kinya Seto, LIXIL Group CEO.