Pioneer North America Inc., the holding company for Pioneer Corporation’s North American operations, today announced that it has agreed to sell the DVD manufacturing assets of its subsidiary, Pioneer Video Manufacturing Inc., to Deluxe Video Services Inc. Deluxe, a subsidiary of The Rank Group Plc., is a leading provider of VHS duplication, packaging and fulfillment services worldwide. The transaction includes the sale of four DVD production lines and related equipment.

As part of Pioneer’s “Vision 2005” corporate initiatives, the company has recently been undertaking business reengineering and streamlining its global manufacturing structure to improve efficiency and profitability. The sale of PVM’s DVD manufacturing assets will enable Pioneer to consolidate most of its DVD production at Pioneer Video Corp. in Kofu, Japan, to improve economies of scale.

“With the sale of our DVD manufacturing assets in the U.S., Pioneer can now solidify its leadership position as a manufacturer of cutting-edge A/V products, by focusing North American resources and efforts on marketing consumer and commercial DVD hardware products,” said Kazunori Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer, Pioneer North America Inc. “For the next few months, Pioneer will be working very closely with the Deluxe management to make this transition as smooth as possible for all employees and customers.”