Panasonic to buy out subsidiaries, push eco-tech businesses

Panasonic Corp. said in a statement Thursday it is planning to take 100 percent ownership of its subsidiaries Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works in a bid to boost its eco-tech businesses related to electric cars and solar driven products.

In a move costing around 9.4 billion U.S. dollars, the electronics maker will purchase shares in the two companies by raising up to 5.7 billion U.S. dollars towards the buyout through a new share issue.

Panasonic Corp., who already owns 51 percent of Panasonic Electric Works Co. and 50.05 percent of Sanyo Electric Co., under President Fumio Ohtsubo, will aggressively seek to make ecological businesses, including batteries for electric vehicles and solar panels for green homes, a core aspect of its future business.

"To survive the competition and to foster growth in new markets, it is essential to foster quick strategic decision-making and the strength of the company," the company said in a statement.

Panasonic faces tough competition in eco-technology from South Korean electronics makers such as Samsung Electronics Co., as well as from local electronics makers such as Sony Corp. and the company will continue to count on growth in consumer electronics with its top-selling Viera LCDTVs and Lumix digital cameras -- in addition the firm on Wednesday unveiled its revolutionary 3D camcorder.

Separately the firm on Thursday reported that their April-June profit totaled 43.7 billion yen (502 million U.S. dollars), a notable turnaround from a 53 billion yen loss logged a year earlier.

Panasonic also raised its forecasts for the full year through March 2011 to an 85 billion yen (977 million dollars) profit, on sales of 8.9 trillion yen (102 billion dollars).

Source: Xinhua