Panasonic Corp. is in talks to buy rival Sanyo Electric Co. at a price of up to $8.7 billion, according to a Reuters report. Sanyo is the world's seventh-largest solar cell manufacturer.
In conjunction with the purchase, Panasonic is expected to potentially build a large-scale solar plant in order to manufacture cost-competitive solar panels. Panasonic-Sanyo would become Japan's largest electronics maker by revenues.
Sanyo, however, notes on its Web site that despite widespread reports of an acquisition, no official decision on the matter has been made.
Sources: Reuters, Sanyo
