Panasonic to buy refrigeration firm Hussmann for over $1.2 billion: sources

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Panasonic agreed to buy the stake from Clayton Dubilier & Rice, said the people, who declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak with media on the matter.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice bought the stake from industrial conglomerate Ingersoll-Rand PLC (IR.N) in 2011.

After exiting unprofitable product lines in smartphones, plasma television sets and semiconductors, Panasonic has been shifting to growth areas such as automotive and advanced technologies that earn higher profit margins.

Panasonic officials were not immediately available to comment.

(Reporting by Emi Emoto and Taro Fuse; Editing by Christopher Cushing)