<div><p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Corp <6752.T> said on Thursday it acquired 50.2 percent of Sanyo Electric Co Ltd <6764.T>, the world's largest rechargeable battery maker, completing a long-delayed 403.8 billion yen ($4.6 billion) deal.</p><p>The transaction had been widely expected to hand Panasonic a majority stake as Sanyo's top three shareholders agreed to sell part of their shareholdings into the tender for a premium to ensure that Panasonic obtained more than half of Sanyo.</p><p>Panasonic paid 131 yen for each common share, handing a hefty profit to Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, which bought preferred shares priced at 700 yen and convertible to 10 common shares each in 2006.</p><p>Daiwa Securities SMBC is a joint venture between Daiwa Securities Group Inc <8601.T> and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) <8316.T>, while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking is Sanyo's main bank and part of SMFG.</p><p>Customers for Sanyo's hybrid car batteries include Honda Motor Co Ltd <7267.T>, Ford Motor Co <F.N> and PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA>, while Panasonic runs a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> to develop and make hybrid and electric car batteries.</p><p>Sanyo is also a major manufacturer of solar cells and Panasonic offers fuel cells, enabling the new Panasonic group to offer a wider lineup of energy-producing and energy-storage alternatives to petroleum.</p><p>The takeover, delayed by slow regulatory approval, makes Panasonic, which was sitting on cash and cash equivalent of 1.46 trillion yen as of September 30, a dominant player in the fast-growing market for hybrid car batteries.</p><p>Prior to the announcement, shares in Sanyo closed up 10.7 percent at 176 yen, in the biggest single-day jump in 6 months, following the closure of the deal the previous day.</p><p>Panasonic, maker of Viera flat TVs and Lumix digital cameras, fell 1.9 percent to 1,226 yen. The benchmark Nikkei average <.N225> lost 1.4 percent.</p><p>($1=88.23 Yen)</p><p>(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi and Nobuhiro Kubo; Editing by Joseph Radford)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=65240184&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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