Panasonic finalizes deal to buy Sanyo
updated 09:30 am EST, Thu December 18, 2008
Panasonic Wraps Sanyo Buy
Panasonic on Thursday is said (membership required) to have successfully landed an agreement to buy Sanyo. The deal follows several weeks of talks and sees Panasonic buy a controlling 70 percent stake in Sanyo from companies that already had influence in the firm, including the American bank Goldman Sachs. The value of the buyout is estimated at the equivalent of $6.4 billion and creates one of the largest Japanese electronics ever, competing with Hitachi.
The union of the two companies is widely understood to focus on the energy side of Sanyo's business and would create one of the single largest companies producing batteries for electronics, including lithium-ion packs, as well as a leader in solar power. It also promises to give the combined company an edge in camcorders and other fields where both already produce similar devices.
Such a deal would be subject to government approval; neither of the involved companies is known to have said when they expect the merger to take full effect.
