Panasonic Corp might have to sell its Sanyo business for digital cameras by the end of April to a Japanese fund called Advantage Partners, a representative of the company announced.
By the end of the year, a final decision regarding the sale will be taken, however, the representative did not reveal any more details about the sale.
For the business which manufactures digital cameras for other companies such as the Nikkei and Olympus Corp, Advantage Partners will pay hundreds of millions of yen.
Panasonic Corp officials refused to give any comments about the proposed plan until it has been set in motion.
The goal of the Japanese company is to sell nearly 110 billion yen of assets, such as land and buildings by the end of April in order to boost cashflow to nearly 200 billion yen for the fiscal year. Panasonic Corp’s experts anticipate annual net loss of about $10 billion, writing off millions goodwill and deferred tax assets.
In 2010, Panasonic Corp acquired rival company Sanyo, a leading manufacturer of solar panels and lithium ion batteries. Because of the powerful smartphones, digital cameras’ sales are under pressure.
In early trading in Tokyo, Panasonic Corp’s shares gained as much as 4 percent in comparison to a 1 percent rise in the benchmark Olympus Corp 225 index.
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