Panasonic Corp of Japan has engaged the services of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in order to sell a part of its healthcare subsidiary, The deal could raise as much as US$1 billion for the electronics company, according to two sources familiar with the transaction who spoke on condition of anonymity.
For its part, Merrill Lynch would be providing information to potential bidders by May and prospects include private equity funds Bain Capital and the Carlyle Group.
According to Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga, he would be seeking to partner with a firm 'with medical knowledge and skills and capital for future growth'. This partner would be investing in the healthcare unit as part of a greater company restructuring designed to boost profitability and chart a new path away from consumer electronics to becoming components suppliers and devices to other firms.
Tsuga did not indicate the size of the stake being sold in the healthcare unit. Many analysts were expecting Panasonic to announce the sale of the business, which is focused on blood sugar monitoring devices and medical charting systems.
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