For Sale in Japan: Electronics Assets
Panasonic Corp. said Friday it agreed to sell the digital-camera business it inherited in its 2009 acquisition of Sanyo Electric Co. to a Japanese private-equity firm. The deal is symbolic of how Japan’s struggling consumer-electronics companies are setting aside years of resistance to get serious about shedding nonessential assets and streamlining their sprawl of operations.
But this newfound pragmatism, necessitated by a sobering reality of multibillion-dollar losses in recent years and strained finances, may be hindered by a mismatch of what they are willing to sell and what potential buyers want.
