International Business Machines Corporation and Hitachi Ltd. plan to enter into a joint venture worth $2.05 billion, in which I.B.M. will sell its hard-disk drive assets to Hitachi over a three-year period. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the deal on Monday, and the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the European Commission, Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission and Brazil's Conselho Administrativo Defesa Economica have reportedly already granted anti-trust approval. As part of the proposed deal, Hitachi will start out with a 70% ownership stake in the joint venture and will have full ownership of it within three years. Hitachi has vowed to make the joint venture profitable as early as April 2003, with predicted revenues of $5 billion.