Panasonic sells Tesla stake for $3.6 billion, could use money for strategic investments

Panasonic Corp offered its stake in electrical automobile maker Tesla Inc for about 400 billion yen ($3.61 billion) within the 12 months ended March, a spokesperson for the Japanese firm mentioned on Friday.
The sale comes because the bicycles-to-hair dryers conglomerate is looking for to scale back its dependence on Tesla and lift money for investing in progress.
Panasonic’s battery enterprise is dominated by Elon Musk’s Tesla, however the two corporations have had a tense relationship at occasions with executives buying and selling barbs publicly.
Panasonic purchased 1.4 million Tesla shares at $21.15 every in 2010 for about $30 million. That stake was value $730 million on the finish of March 2020. The shares have gained virtually seven fold since then and closed up 3.5% at $679.82 apiece on Thursday.

“The impact of crypto assets may have pushed Tesla’s share price above its intrinsic value, making it a good time to sell,” mentioned Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute.
Musk mentioned in February his agency purchased bitcoin and would take cost within the cryptocurrency, a choice he later reversed, and his feedback on Twitter drive swings within the value of such property.
While Panasonic gave monetary backing to Tesla when it was smaller, the automaker’s enlargement means there’s no want for capital ties, Yasuda added. Panasonic’s shares had been up 4.2% on Friday.
The stake sale won’t have an effect on the partnership with Tesla, the Panasonic spokesperson mentioned, however comes because the automaker is diversifying its personal battery provide chain.
Tesla has struck offers with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, a unit of LG Chem, and China’s CATL, with Reuters reporting the latter is planning a plant in Shanghai close to the automaker’s manufacturing base.

Panasonic mentioned earlier this 12 months it might purchase the shares of US supply-chain software program firm Blue Yonder that it doesn’t already personal, in a $7.1 billion deal. Its greatest such deal in a decade, the value raised the eyebrows of analysts who pointed to the agency’s spotty M&A monitor file.
($1 = 110.8700 yen)