OSAKA (Kyodo) Panasonic Corp. said it will launch a tender offer Thursday for shares of Sanyo Electric Co. to convert it into a subsidiary.
The deal would boost its group sales close to the level of Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electronics company.
Panasonic's board of directors decided on the tender offer Wednesday morning and Sanyo's board adopted a resolution to endorse the offer.
The offer, which will run through Dec. 7, is expected to end successfully because the U.S. Goldman Sachs group and two other major Sanyo shareholders have agreed to sell more than 50 percent of their outstanding Sanyo shares to Panasonic at the planned price of ¥131 per share. The deal is expected to cost Panasonic at least ¥400 billion.
Because the tender price is far lower than the market level, most individual investors are expected to refrain from accepting the offer.
Sanyo shares closed Wednesday at ¥216 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, down ¥12 from Monday, the previous market day.
Panasonic is expected to complete the procedures to turn Sanyo into its subsidiary in December, roughly one year after the plan was announced.
The tender offer comes more than a half year behind schedule as competition policy watchdogs in countries where Panasonic and Sanyo operate have taken a long time to examine whether the integration would run counter to antitrust rules. Most significantly, the integration is expected to boost Panasonic's share of the world battery market.
Approval by the United States is expected soon. China gave its approval late last month.
Combined group sales of Panasonic and Sanyo came to ¥9.54 trillion last year, close to Hitachi's ¥10 trillion and nearly ¥2 trillion above those of Sony Corp.