OSAKA, Nov. 5, 2009 (Kyodo News International) --
(Editors: ADDING INFO AT 3RD GRAF)

Panasonic Corp. launched a tender offer Thursday for shares of Sanyo Electric Co. (OOTC:SANYY) , aiming to acquire more than 50 percent of the electronics maker's shares and convert it into a subsidiary.

Panasonic is offering 131 yen per Sanyo share, sharply lower than its closing price of 216 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Individual investors sold their shares from early trading on Thursday.
Sanyo was the day's largest percentage loser on the TSE, plunging 44 yen to 172 yen, after Panasonic launched the tender offer. Sanyo was also the day's leader in both value and volume terms.

But the tender offer, lasting until Dec. 7, is seen as a done deal as Goldman Sachs group (NYSE:GS) of the United States and two other major Sanyo shareholders, which hold more than 50 percent of Sanyo's total outstanding shares, have agreed to sell their shares to Panasonic at the offered price.

Panasonic is expected to complete procedures to turn Sanyo into a subsidiary in December, about a year after it announced the plan to do so through a tender offer.

The tender offer was launched more than half a year behind schedule as competition policy watchdogs in countries where Panasonic and Sanyo operate have taken time to examine whether the integration would run counter to antitrust rules.

The integration is expected to boost Panasonic's share of the world battery market. In late October, Sanyo released a plan to sell some of its battery operations to clear concerns about antitrust problems.

The United States is soon expected to become the last country to approve the integration, following China, which gave its approval late last month.

The combined group sales of Panasonic and Sanyo came to 9.54 trillion yen in the business year ended in March, close to the 10 trillion yen recorded by Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electrical machinery maker, and nearly 2 trillion more than sales at Sony Corp.