OSAKA (Kyodo) Hankyu Holdings Inc. will soon decide formally to purchase all Hanshin Electric Railway Co. shares held by an investment fund led by financier Yoshiaki Murakami, possibly leading to a merger of the two railways, sources at Hankyu said Tuesday.

Assuming the purchase goes ahead, Hankyu Holdings will tender an offer for the Hanshin shares as soon as it strikes a deal with the Murakami Fund on the price, the sources said.

Hankyu Holdings owns Hankyu Corp., which competes with Hanshin in the Kansai region centering on Osaka.