Panasonic Prepares to Buy Sanyo

Panasonic, currently the biggest plasma TV maker in the world, is preparing for a major takeover of Sanyo, which will create one of the world’s largest electronic companies around. It will take the two, whose founders are related, to a closer tie.

Sanyo was founded by the brother in law of Panasonic founder, Konosuke Matsushita.

The company is expected to own more than 50% of the Sanyo shares in the next few months, making it the owner and the majority share holder. The takeover value is estimated to be around $4.4 billion or 402 billion yen. There are currently three major shareholders in Sanyo – Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, which have all given a green light of the shares purchase.

Analysts predict that Sanyo will become Panasonic subsidiary before the end of the year.

With the takeover, no one can predict what will happen to the good people working with Sanyo. Perhaps, there won’t be restructuring or changes in the organization. If there is, then some unlucky workers will have to go.

Japanese companies  tend to show respect to workers and are often reluctant to let go their workers through redundancies and layoffs even during the recession. But Panasonic is not new to layoffs and has been in the past forced to close factories and left workers out of jobs.

Other posts you may want to read:

1. Panasonic to Close Malaysia Plant
2. 5 New Banks to Operate in Malaysia
3. Johnson & Johnson to Cut 8,000 Jobs
4. 3,000 Job Cuts at Sun Microsystems
5. Layoffs For 1,400 Workers in Kedah
6. Citigroup Ready to Lay Off More Staff
7. Penang Wants RM500M Retrenchment Fund
8. Stimulus Package for Retrenched Workers

Author's bio: Zul is the founder and principal contributor for the SKOR Career blog. He is the author of two books, The Malaysian Job Seeker's Dilemma and Buat Duit Tanpa Kerja Makan Gaji (How to Make Money Without a Job), available in major book stores nationwide. You can reach him at zulkiflimusa[at]gmail.com.