Panasonic buys Sanyo
Mergers between Japanese consumer electronics giants have been few and far between, even though you would think hat these companies would want to reduce competition by buying out rivals. These wide-ranging companies (including Hirtachi, Canon, Konica Minolta, Epson, Sony, and many others) have long pursued parallel lines of business, only with reluctance leaving even the ones in which they are minor competitors.
But now Panasonic (formerly Matsushita), the world's biggest consumer electronics firm, has announced it will buy Japanese rival Sanyo Electric in a $9 billion deal.
Sanyo makes, among other products, televisions, home appliances, audio and video systems, biomedical equipment, food preparation equipment, digital cameras, solar panels, semiconductors, and batteries.
The move, among other things, will make Panasonic the #1 company globally in rechargeable batteries, with a 38% market share. It will also make the company a player in solar technology, an area in which Sanyo has had some success. Both of these areas are likely to do well in the near future.
Panasonic is suffering in terms of income, having cut its projected income for the year by 90%. Sanyo had even more problems looming, and had been bailed out by investment banks in 2006. The buy price was less than half of what it had been earlier this year.
Every indication is that even more reluctant acquisition activity is in store in this sector
8:20:26 PM 
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