Panasonic : sells entire stake in Tesla for $3.6bn
June 25, 2021 at 02:41 am EDT
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Panasonic has sold its stake in electric car maker Tesla for $3.6bn, a spokesperson for the Japanese company said today.
The sale comes as Panasonic looks to raise cash for investing in growth and to reduce its dependence on Tesla.
The electronics firm is dominated by Elon Musk’s company, but the two have often had a rocky relationship with executives trading barbs publicly.
Panasonic bought 1.4m Tesla shares at $21.15 each in 2010 for around $30m. This was worth $730m by the end of March 2020 and the shares have gained almost seven fold since then.
“The impact of crypto assets may have pushed Tesla’s share price above its intrinsic value, making it a good time to sell,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute.
Earlier in the year, Musk said Tesla had bought Bitcoin and would accept payment in the cryptocurrency.
He later reversed this decision, and his tweets drove swings in the price of such assets.
While Panasonic gave financial backing to Tesla when it was a smaller company, the car maker’s expansion means there is no need for capital ties, Yasuda added.
The stake sale will not affect the partnership with Tesla, Panasonic said, but comes as Musk’s firm is diversifying its own battery supply chain.
Tesla has struck deals with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution and China’s CATL, with the latter planning a plant in Shanghai near the automaker’s production base, according to Reuters.
Panasonic’s shares were up 4.7 per cent today, while Tesla was up 3.5 per cent.
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Panasonic Holdings Corporation (formerly Panasonic Corporation) specializes in manufacturing and marketing of consumer electronic equipments. Net sales (including intragroup) break down by family of products as follows:
- domestic equipments, appliances and audiovisual equipment (42.5%): lighting devices, photovoltaic devices, wiring devices, health and care devices, furnishing materials, air conditioning and ventilation equipments, air purifiers, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, dryers, vacuum cleaners, irons, microwaves, fans, cooking appliances, dishwashers, TVs, digital cameras, audio and video equipment, fixed telephones, showcases, etc.;
- electronic and electromechanical components (13.2%): relays, switches, power supply systems, industrial motors and sensors, capacitors, coils, resistors, materials for electronic circuits, semiconductors, LCD panels, etc.;
- automotive multimedia equipment and electronic accessories (12.4%);
- avionics, industrial automation, communication and entertainment systems (10.8%): in-flight entertainment and communication systems, electronic component assembly machines, welding equipment, projectors, professional audio-visual systems, computers, tablets, mobile communication systems and equipment, etc.;
- energy storage systems (8.9%): cylindrical lithium-ion batteries, dry batteries, primary/secondary lithium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, lithium-ion batteries, energy storage modules and systems;
- other (12.2%).
Net sales break down geographically as follows: Japan (43.2%), China (13.4%), Asia (14.7%), Americas (18.7%) and Europe (10%).