Panasonic, which is expected to launch a tender offer for Sanyo shares, will announce its plan to acquire the struggling electric appliance and electronics maker possibly later this week, Kyodo quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying.
Panasonic is reportedly considering buying Sanyo by acquiring some of its preferred shares that three major creditor institutions now hold.
The three -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of the United States, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. -- currently hold 430 million preferred shares, which were issued by Sanyo Electric in 2006.
The stock will represent about 70 percent of Sanyo's outstanding issues in terms of voting rights if converted into common shares.
Industry insiders said Panasonic may also seek to obtain all outstanding Sanyo shares to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.
Kyodo said the two companies have agreed that Sanyo's management independence will be respected and the corporate as well as brand names will be maintained.
Employment of about 100,000 Sanyo workers will also be secured, the sources said.
Panasonic would secure a dominant global market share in the lithium-ion battery business and would obtain the photovoltaic cell business by acquiring Sanyo.
Combined group sales of Panasonic and Sanyo Electric totaled about 11.22 trillion yen in fiscal 2007, surpassing the 10.9 trillion yen industry leader Hitachi Ltd. logged the same fiscal year.
Panasonic changed its corporate name to the current one from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. in October. The group has been looking for ways to promote merger and acquisition activities in a bid to attain consolidated sales of 10 trillion yen in the 2009 business year.
Sanyo's founder Toshio Iue was a relative of Matsushita founder Konosuke Matsushita and worked for Matsushita before establishing Sanyo in 1947.
Resource - Xinhua
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