- The acquisition estimated to be worth $6.45 billion is likely to come from Panasonic's own funds
- The electronics major may also consider other financing and loans if required
Japanese electronics firm, Panasonic Corp. has revealed the acquisition of U.S. supply-chain software company, Blue Yonder for $6.45 billion, a move the comes up as its biggest acquisition since 2011. The company had bought a 20% stake in Blue Yonder in 2020, and now is in the final stages of acquiring its remaining stock from shareholders which include Blackstone Group Inc.
Sources close to the move suggest that the acquisition would help improve Panasonic's supply chain management services as the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the attention of companies on their resilience to disruption.
Furthermore, the deal to acquire all of the remaining stocks of Blue Yonder would be Japanese firm’s largest since it spent 800Bn yen to make Panasonic Electric Works and Sanyo Electric subsidiaries in 2011. The agreed investment for this deal are likely to come from Panasonic's held funds, although other financing and loans are likely to considered for the deal, added sources.
The Japanese firm deepened its collaboration with Blue Yonder in May 2020, gaining a seat on its board after taking over a minority stake. Blue Yonder uses machine learning (ML) to help companies manage their supply chains that links factories to retailers and warehouses. The U.S. company offers services to companies such as Starbucks Corp Walmart Inc, and Unilever PLC among others.
As for Panasonic, the company is renowned worldwide for its consumer electronics and appliances and has been focused more on building parts and supplying services to other businesses in recent years. The firm gained fame after it tied up with Tesla for supplying batteries to power the automaker’s electric vehicles.
Source Credit: https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate-news/panasonic-to-buy-software-firm-blue-yonder-for-6-5-billion-report/81404660