Mitsubishi Materials Corp. plans to sell its 50 percent stake in OAP Towers, a building in Osaka, to a company outside its group, the company said Friday.

The company expects around 37 billion yen from the sale, which will lead to an appraisal loss of around 30 billion yen. A buyer for the building has not been decided yet, but Mitsubishi Materials hopes to make the sale as early as the 2002 business year.

The 30 billion yen appraisal loss would be part of the 79 billion yen in extraordinary loss that Mitsubishi Materials is now forecasting for the business year that ends March 31.