DV Info Net - JVC merging with Kenwood

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Matsushita negotiating to sell JVC to Kenwood

via The Japan Times

Quote:

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006

Matsushita negotiating to sell JVC to Kenwood
Compiled from Kyodo, AP

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has decided to sell its stake in Victor Co. of Japan and is negotiating with prospective buyer Kenwood Corp., sources said Saturday.

Matsushita, which has a 52.4 percent stake in JVC, plans to complete its latest round of structural reforms by removing JVC from group earnings, the sources said.

JVC President Masahiko Terada is believed to have met with Kenwood President Haruo Kawahara earlier this month.

The sources said there is another proposal on the table which calls for JVC executives to acquire the shares from Matsushita through a management buyout, the sources said.

Cerberus Group is negotiating with JVC executives to provide the necessary capital for such a deal, they added.

JVC, the pioneer of VHS-format VCRs, was once a strong player in consumer electronics. However, its earnings have tapered off due to mounting competition.

It suffered a 30.6 billion yen group net loss on 806.8 billion yen in sales for the business year that ended last March 31.

By acquiring JVC, Kenwood would seek to use the Victor brand to strengthen its own video and audio lineup, the sources said.

"Our policy to closely watch the operation of Victor, which is making its utmost effort for a business recovery, has not changed," a Matsushita spokesperson said. "Nothing is decided about the sale."

Matsushita spokesman Akira Kadota however acknowledged that JVC is the only Matsushita subsidiary which is in the red. "There are many options, and a sellout is one of them," he said.

Established in 1927, JVC joined the Matsushita group in 1954 and produced such hit items as color television sets and VCRs. It had about 28,500 employees as of Sept. 30.

from my understanding Matsushita (panasonic) is JVC's parent company

Matsushita owns (owned) 51% of JVC and 100% of Panasonic.

They were shopping it to Kenwood back in December:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=82411

Hmmm...do you suppose they'll rename the company "Victor Corporation of AMERICA, Inc.?" Actually, now that I think about it, that does have a nice ring to it...

The interesting thing about the "Texas Pacific Group" is that they are considered one of the best private equity firms around, AND they partnered with SONY Corp in 2005 to acquire MGM.
They also bought out (sometimes with other partnered firms) Seagate, Burger King, Neiman Marcus, Univision, Harrah's Entertainment, and are exploring a $100 Billion buyout of Home Depot.
These guys seem to know what they're doing. $680 million for JVC seems like chump change in comparison.

Does this mean we will get better deal from JVC on their camera range, or less cameras?

Where did JVC come from?

Neither. First, there's nothing wrong with the current price range and second, this isn't going to affect their equipment production capabilities. Also keep in mind that their professional video camera product line is only a tiny slice of what they do overall.

Where did Japan Victor Company come from? Read a brief history here: http://www.jvc.com/company/index.jsp?pageID=2

What i am worried about, is that they might decide to cut off the tiny part, loss focus, or not worry about it, this is something that happens when corporations get taken over, products get Newtonised (Apple Newton, not from Jobs, not his idea, gone). I personally hope they go the opposite direction and offer even better competition.

That was RCA I was thinking of, and Canon, and ....

JVC merging with Kenwood

"Japan's JVC, Kenwood seen to merge - sources

TOKYO, June 23 (Reuters) - Struggling consumer electronics maker JVC (6792.T: Quote, Profile, Research) will likely merge with audio equipment maker Kenwood Corp. (6765.T: Quote, Profile, Research) under a joint holding company as early as 2008, sources close to the matter said on Saturday.

Matsushita (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest consumer electronics maker holding 52.4 percent stake in JVC, is expected to sell its shares in the Yokohama-based firm to the holding company, taking the lossing-making JVC off its consolidated accounts, they said.

Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. has been trying to sell its JVC stake, worth about 52.6 billion yen ($425 million), because its persistent losses have been weighing on its group-based earnings performance.

Under the preliminary integration plan, Kenwood will first buy 20 billion yen worth of new JVC shares through a third-party allocation, taking a stake of about 13 percent.

Then, JVC and Kenwood, a maker of audio equipment and car electronics, will set up a holding company as early as 2008, under which two firms will merge their operations.

They aim to reach the final agreement by the end of July, the sources said..."

Rest of the story here:

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/...oryID=nT301486