Panasonic makes a 'green' move to buy out solar player Sanyo

The Osaka-based company will also take 100% ownership of Panasonic Electric Works in a combined deal worth $9.4bn, according to reports.


At the end of last year Panasonic clinched a 50.2% stake in Sanyo for $4.6bn.

It is now set to offer ¥138 ($1.58) for each remaining share in a tender running from August 23 to October 3.

The buyout marks a strategy, fronted by chief executive Fumio Ohtsubo, to pivot focus from consumer electronics to outfitting homes with solar panels and other energy-saving technologies.

Panasonic is hoping to continue to shape its growth strategy around what it calls "green innovation".

In trading on the Tokyo stock exchange on Thursday, Panasonic and Sanyo shares moved in opposite directions as reports of the deal surfaced.

Panasonic shares ended down 7.7% at ¥1,077, while Sanyo shares surged 26% to ¥149.

Sanyo is the world’s dominant maker of lithium-ion batteries, and has a sizeable footprint in the solar sector.

Earlier this year Recharge reported on Sanyo's plans to become the world's third-largest solar-cell manufacturer by 2015.

It is currently the 11th-largest maker of solar cells and says it will more than quadruple its annual production to 1.5GW in the next five years, capturing as much as 10% of the global market.
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