Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Japan's largest consumer electronics maker, plans to sell its Victor Co of Japan Ltd unit to Kenwood Corp, a Japanese car navigation equipment maker, people familiar with the matter said.
The three companies are discussing final terms on the sale after unprofitable Victor agreed to a merger with Kenwood, two people familiar with the issue told Bloomberg News, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential.
Victor has a market value of ?100 billion (US$807 million) based on its last closing price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Officials at the companies declined to comment on the sale.
Matsushita, which owns more than 52 percent of Victor, has been seeking a buyer of the company for several years.
Victor is forecasting a fourth straight loss this year and Kenwood has previously been among candidates to buy the company.
JVC brand
With the buyout, Tokyo-based Kenwood will gain the JVC brand for car audio and navigation systems and home-use stereo sets.
Takaaki Nose, a Kenwood spokesman, and Toshiya Ogata, a Victor spokesman, said a decision hasn't been made on the issue.
"Regarding our stake in Victor, we are considering every conceivable option to secure Victor's independence which would raise our corporate value," said Akira Kadota, a Matsushita spokesman. He wouldn't comment on the sale, which was reported by the Nikkei Shimbun earlier.
Integration
Matsushita and Kenwood are discussing a plan to form a holding company, under which Kenwood and Victor will integrate their operations, the people said. Matsushita may sell its 52.7 percent stake in JVC to the holding company, they said.
Matsushita's holding of 133.23 million Victor shares is worth ?52.6 billion based on Victor's closing share price on Friday of ?395 in Tokyo.
Yokohama-based Victor, founded in 1927, introduced the world's first home video recorder with the VHS format in 1976, which drove Sony Corp's Betamax video standard out of the market.
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