Panasonic Wins Bid To Acquire Sanyo

The electronics giant's board of directors is scheduled to meet Friday to finalize a tender offer, expected to be made as early as February, according to Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Panasonic's stake from the three banks will constitute 70 percent of Sanyo, and Panasonic will buy shares for 131 yen ($1.48) each. That's 1 yen higher than an offer Goldman rejected from Panasonic on Dec. 4, and the deal values Sanyo at close to $9 billion (806.7 billion yen). According to Reuters, it marks the first time one major Japanese electronics firm has acquired another.

"This shows that Goldman is in need of cash and wants to recoup its investment quickly," said Shigeo Kikuchi, an analyst at Takagi Securities in Tokyo, to Bloomberg News. "This is a symbolic event in this recession. Whoever has cash is strong."

Goldman, Daiwa Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui had received preferred shares in return for bailing out a struggling Sanyo in 2006.

Panasonic first announced its discussions for a takeover of Sanyo in early November. Sanyo in January 2008 sold its cell phone division to Kyocera for $375 million.