Diebold Inc. has formed a joint venture to manufacture and support automated teller machines in China.
The new concern, known as China Diebold Financial Equipment Co., is 65% owned by Canton, Ohio-based Diebold, with the remaining 35% share divided between Shanghai Far East Aero Technology and Export Corp., and a unit of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Under the 30-year agreement, these companies will jointly manufacture, install, and service ATMs for sale in China, which Diebold officials call "the world's largest potential ATM market."
According to figures from The Nilson Report, based in Los Angeles, Asia received over 43% of the new ATMs shipped last year - more than any other region. That trend is expected to continue over the next decade.
The joint venture will begin producing ATMs at a new facility in Shanghai around the end of the year.
Diebold manufactures ATMs in the United States under a joint venture agreement with International Business Machines Corp. The company is known as Inter-Bold.
