Panasonic Sells All Tesla Shares It Held... "No Impact on Business Partnership"

11 Years of Held Shares, Seemingly Sold at Peak
Likely to Invest in Blue Yonder Acquisition and Battery Business Expansion

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Japanese Panasonic has reportedly sold all of its Tesla shares held for 11 years since 2010 during the first quarter of this year. Panasonic stated that despite this share sale, its business partnership with Tesla will continue.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 25th, Panasonic sold all of its Tesla shares by the end of March this year. Nikkei reported, "According to Panasonic's consolidated cash flow statement for the last fiscal year (April 2020 to March 2021), the amount of 'sale and redemption of equity-method investments and other financial assets' surged by 380 billion yen from the previous year to 429.9 billion yen (approximately 4.385 trillion KRW), and most of this revenue is estimated to be from the sale of Tesla shares."

Previously, Panasonic signed its first battery supply contract with Tesla in 2009 and purchased Tesla shares at the end of 2010, shortly after Tesla was listed on NASDAQ, to strengthen their partnership. Panasonic bought 1.4 million common shares of Tesla in a private placement at $21.15 per share. According to the annual securities report for the fiscal year ending March 2020, the market value of these shares was 81 billion yen. Considering that Tesla's stock price surged sharply since last spring and rose up to about nine times at its peak in January, Panasonic's share sale amount is estimated to be substantial.

Panasonic stated that this share sale decision does not affect its partnership with Tesla and that it will continue to supply electric vehicle batteries to Tesla. A Panasonic executive told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, "The cooperative relationship with Tesla will not change going forward." He emphasized that Panasonic intends to remain Tesla's longest-standing partner company since Tesla's founding.

The proceeds from Panasonic's share sale are expected to be used for recent acquisition funds and battery business expansion. In March, Panasonic announced it would acquire the U.S. supply chain management software developer Blue Yonder for $7.1 billion and plans to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.