The board of directors of Japanese electronics giant, Sony have not accepted a suggestion by billionaire Daniel Loeb to sell stake in its entertainment business.

The board took a unanimous decision not to accept the suggestion indicating that the full ownership of the of the film and music units in an important element for the company, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement. Third Point LLC headed by Mr. Loeb has increased its stake to 6.9 per cent in Sony and has been asking the board to sell 20 per cent of its entertainment assets in an initial public offering.

Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai is working on a plan to combine business ranging from the manufacturing of hardware including televisions and mobile phones to music and film content in order to post earnings followings years of losses from electronics business.

“Sony’s entertainment businesses are critical to our corporate strategy and will be important drivers of growth. I am firmly committed to assuring their growth, to improving their profitability, and to aggressively leveraging their collaboration with our electronics and service businesses,” Hirai said in the statement.

Sony will now start publishing more data from its entertainment business from the second quarter of the year.