Panasonic says clears way to acquire Sanyo for up to 9 bn dlrs

TOKYO: Japan's Panasonic Corp. said Friday it had cleared the way to acquire struggling Sanyo Electric Co. for up to nine billion dollars as major shareholders agreed to sell their holdings.

Panasonic said in a statement that it would launch a tender offer aiming to secure a 70.5 percent stake in Sanyo, which has been slashing thousands of jobs as it tries to return to profit.

Panasonic said it had reached a deal to buy each share for 131 yen, valuing the deal at up to 800 billion yen (around nine billion dollars) overall, after investment group Goldman Sachs and others agreed to sell their holdings.