A unit of Japan’s Panasonic Holdings plans to exit its high-end projector business, Japanese media Nikkei has reported.
Panasonic Connect is expected to decide on a buyer for the business as early as next month, with an estimated sale price of approximately A$770.84 million.
The move is part of Panasonic’s plans to focus its resources on digital supply chain systems.
The sale will also raise funds for expanding Panasonic Connect’s systems business, centered on Blue Yonder, a US-based developer of supply chain software.
Panasonic Holdings acquired Blue Yonder in 2021 for over A$10.58 billion. Proceeds from the projector business sale will reportedly go toward the acquisition of another supply chain software developer.
Panasonic has previously indicated that its Blue Yonder would acquire another US-based digital supply chain network supplier One Network Enterprises for approximately A$1.26 billion (U$839 million) with the deal expected to be completed by the July-September quarter of 2024.
The Japanese financial services group Orix is reported to have expressed interest as a possible buyer for the projector business, as has an international investment fund.
Panasonic Connect is a giant in the high-end, large-venue projectors space and has supplied them for global events like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Panasonic Holdings recently confirmed that it will sell its entire stake in Panasonic Automotive Systems to the US private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a transaction valued at around A$3.11 billion
Panasonic Holdings is advancing a three-pronged growth strategy of electric-vehicle batteries, heat pumps and supply chain management. It plans to invest nearly 600 billion yen in the EV battery business in the three years to fiscal 2024.
With uncertainty hanging over the battery segment as EV sales hit a speed bump, Panasonic Connect’s systems business could emerge as a swing factor in the group’s earnings growth.
