Panasonic Corp, Japan’s struggling maker of Viera brand TVs, owns more than 10 million square metres of office and factory space, dormitories for its workers and sports facilities for its rugby, baseball and women’s athletics teams.
As it battles for Christmas shoppers’ wallets in the
year-end holiday season, the sprawling electronics conglomerate is also seeking buyers for some of those properties to trim its fixed costs and improve cashflow at a time of intense competition, particularly from South Korean rivals such as Samsung.
Japan’s other troubled TV makers, Sony Corp and Sharp Corp, are also selling buildings and businesses in a giant ‘garage sale’ that could raise a combined $3 billion. Panasonic plans to raise $1.34 billion from offloading property and shares in other Japenese companies by end-March, said the group’s CFO Hideaki Kawai.