Japan’s Panasonic reportedly sold all of Tesla’s shares, which it had held for 11 years since 2010, during the first quarter of this year. Panasonic said the deal would continue with Tesla.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 25th, Panasonic sold all of its shares in Tesla until the end of March this year. Nikkei reported, “Panasonic’s consolidated cash flow statement for the fiscal year last year (April 2020 to March 2021) showed that the ‘sale and repayment of equity investments and other financial assets’ were 429.9 billion yen, most of which were due to Tesla’s sale.”
Panasonic previously purchased Tesla’s stake in late 2010, shortly after Tesla listed it on NASDAQ, after signing its first battery supply contract with Tesla in 2009. Panasonic then purchased 1.4 million shares of Tesla’s common stock at $21.15 per share in the form of private equity investment, with the market value of the stake reaching 81 billion yen in the fiscal year as of March 2020. Considering that Tesla’s stock price has soared since spring last year and soared up to nine times to its peak in January, Panasonic’s stake sale is estimated to be considerable.
Panasonic said the sale of the stake was a decision that did not affect its partnership with Tesla and will continue to supply Tesla with electric vehicle batteries. “The partnership with Tesla will not change in the future,” a Panasonic executive told the Nikkei Asia. It emphasized that it will remain the oldest Tesla partner company since Tesla started its business.
The sale of Panasonic’s stake is expected to be used for Panasonic’s recent acquisition funds and expansion of its battery business. Panasonic announced in March that it would acquire U.S. supply chain management software developer Blue Yonder for $7.1 billion, and plans to have it as a full subsidiary.
