Tokyo - Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp and its
smaller competitor Sanyo Electric Co have announced their agreement
to a business alliance Friday, sealing Sanyo's takeover.
Panasonic will take control of about 70.5 per cent of Sanyo's
shares after US investment bank Goldman Sachs, which is one of
Sanyo's major shareholders together with two Japanese investment
firms, agreed to the deal on Thursday.
Sanyo's management threw its support last month behind the
takeover, which would create one of the world's largest consumer
electronics companies.
Goldman Sachs had originally refused Panasonic's 130-yen-per-share
(1.47-dollar-per-share) offer as too low, but Panasonic president
Fumio Ohtsubo reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs late Wednesday,
news reports said.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Co and Daiwa Securities SMBC Co, Sanyo's
two other major shareholders, had already agreed to the deal.
Panasonic, a leading maker of plasma television sets, was expected
to buy the Sanyo shares for 131 yen (1.49 dollars) via a tender offer
in February, valuing Sanyo at 560 billion yen, the paper said.
It is the first complete takeover of a large Japanese electronics
company by a domestic competitor, putting Panasonic on par with
Hitachi, Japan's largest consumer electronics producer saleswise.
The deal makes Panasonic the world's leading maker of rechargeable
batteries. Sanyo is the number one producer of lithium-ion batteries
for PCs and mobile phones and is also strongly positioned in the
field of solar cell production.
Panasonic will gain a favorable position in these fast-growing
markets, which it regards as future growth markets, as demand in
plasma TVs is stalling.
Sanyo has long been the weakest link among Japan's electronics
companies, battered by low profits, doctored balance sheets and
management deficits.
Panasonic, on the other hand, has been undergoing a major
restructuring phase. In October it changed its name from Matsushita
Electric Industrial to Panasonic as a sign of its modernization drive.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story