Panasonic will take majority control of Sanyo Electric in a US$4.6 billion deal, which concluded yesterday.

 

December 10, 2009: Panasonic will take majority control of Sanyo Electric in a US$4.6 billion deal, which concluded yesterday.
The acquisition will create one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers with an edge in green technologies. Panasonic said it will buy 50.2% of Sanyo at the conclusion of its 24 business-days tender offer, which was initiated on 5 November. As well as obtaining a major OEM digicam manufacturer, the deal will enable Panasonic to utilise Sanyo’s expertise in manufacturing solar panels and rechargeable batteries, bolstering its resources in the growing environmental technologies market.
Sanyo was founded by a brother-in-law of Panasonic founder, Konosuke Matsushita, but has been declining in recent years in Japan’s competitive electronics sector. Sanyo’s three major shareholders – Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking – helped propel the deal after agreeing to sell just over 3.07 billion shares to Panasonic at a price of 131 yen/share for common shares and 10 times that value for Class A and Class B preferred shares.
The expected impact of the Tender Offer on the Company’s consolidated business results for the Fiscal Year ending March 2010 (April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010) is currently under close investigation and will be announced as soon as it becomes clear. The official document announcing the result of the tender offer can be downloaded at http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/en091210-3/en091210-3-1.pdf.