Panasonic sells Tesla stake for $3.6 billion
26 June, 2021
Panasonic Corp sold its stake in electric car maker Tesla Inc for about 400 billion yen ($3.61 billion) in the year ended March, a spokesperson for japan company said on Friday.
The sale comes as the bicycles to hair dryers conglomerate is seeking to reduce its reliance on Tesla and raise cash for buying growth.
Panasonic's battery business is dominated by Elon Musk's Tesla, however the two firms have had sometimes a tense relationship with executives trading barbs publicly.
Panasonic bought 1.4 million Tesla shares at $21.15 each in 2010 2010 for approximately $30 million. That stake was worth $730 million at the end of March 2020. Shares have gained almost seven fold since that time and closed up 3.5% at $679.82 apiece on Thursday.
The stake sale will not affect the partnership with Tesla, the Panasonic spokesperson said, but comes as the automaker is moving to diversify its own battery supply chain.
Panasonic said earlier this season it would buy the shares of U.S. supply-chain software company Blue Yonder that it generally does not already own, in a $7.1 billion deal.
Source: japantoday.com