The Nikkei Shimbun reported today Sanyo has called off plans to sell Sanyo Semiconductor Co. to Advantage Partners, Japan’s largest buyout firm. The transaction had been priced at Y110 billion or approximately $940M. Shares of Sanyo (JP: 6764) [ADR: SANYY.PK] were down 7.1% to Y182 at the end of the morning session Wednesday. Goldman Sachs is one of three firms (including Daiwa Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui FG) that infused Y300B (approx. $2.6B) of capital in Sanyo last year for majority control of the firm. The lockup period for the convertible shares they own ended in March. I’m not aware any shares have been sold in the market or bought back by Sanyo, but I haven’t been following Sanyo as closely since it voluntarily delisted its ADRs, either. At any rate, Goldman and Daiwa, which each own 24.5% stakes in Sanyo, have their work cut out. A report by Reuters says Advantage Partners was pretty much denied funding by Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.
UPDATE: Sanyo has issued a press release, confirming it “will not sell the business … but will retain the semiconductor business as a key operation in its component and device division within the portfolio of the SANYO Group, set to be outlined in the new Mid-term Management Plan.”
