KKR, Bain to enter final bidding for Panasonic healthcare unit - report

According to Reuters, the deal could fetch as much as $1.5 billion. Panasonic was previously said to be targeting around $1 billion from the sale of the unit, which produces products such as blood sugar monitoring equipment, hearing aids and electronic medical record-keeping systems.

Around 10 private equity firms and a handful of strategic investors were tipped to enter first-round bids for the healthcare business at the end of May. The sale process came about after Kazuhiro Tsuga, president of Panasonic, said in March that the company was seeking a partner with the medical knowledge and capital to assist the future growth of the unit.

The business generated a profit of JPY8.7 billion ($85.77 million) on JPY134.3 billion in sales during the last fiscal year. Panasonic, however, reported a loss of JPY754.3 billion for the same period.

The company has put into place a vast restructuring plan, selling off assets in a bid to boost it cash flow. Advantage Partners was able to capitalize in this recently by acquiring the digital camera business of Panasonic unit Sanyo Electric last December.

Panasonic is not the only large Japanese corporate considering divestments of non-core assets. Last week North Asia mid-market buyout firm The Longreach Group has agreed to buy precision drilling business Hitachi Via Mechanics from Japanese conglomerate Hitachi.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is advising Toshiba on the sale of its healthcare unit.

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• Topics
• Healthcare
• Buyouts
• North Asia
• KKR
• healthcare
• Japan
• buyout
• Bain Capital Asia