Panasonic completes Sanyo takeover

Panasonic launched the bid in early November to acquire a minimum stake of 50.04% in Sanyo through a tender offer worth 131 yen per share, giving the deal a value of at least 402.3 billion yen (US$4.6-billion).

A company source who did not want to be named said that "the process has been completed successfully".

Meanwhile, Panasonic spokesman Takahisa Ito confirmed that "the tender offer was closed today and its outcome will be presented tomorrow," without giving details.

The combined consolidated sales of the two firms are forecast to total 8.66 trillion yen in the year to March 2010, almost matching 8.7 trillion yen estimated for industry leader Hitachi Ltd.

Panasonic first announced in December 2008 it had struck a deal with a clutch of heavyweight investors to buy a controlling stake in Sanyo and form an industry heavyweight amid the global economic downturn.

The takeover offer was delayed by regulatory issues and was launched on 5 November.

Sanyo has agreed to sell some of its auto battery operations to address the concerns of competition authorities in Japan, China, Europe and the United States.

Recently the firm has tried to focus on environmental technologies, areas coveted by Panasonic, which is cutting 15 000 jobs and closing dozens of plants as it struggles to recover from its first annual loss for six years.

Sanyo, which started off making bicycle lamps after World War II, has also cut thousands of jobs as it attempts to return to profit.

It was forced to raise cash by issuing several billion dollars' worth of stock in 2006 to shore up its capital base, effectively handing over control to Goldman Sachs and other financial firms.

Goldman said in October it had signed an agreement to sell slightly more than half of its shares in Sanyo, retaining a stake of 13.3%.

Source: AFP

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