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Hoping to avoid running into anti-trust problems with their proposed merger, Japanese battery giants Panasonic and Sanyo are busily trying to shed a few resources.



News reports in Japan say that Panasonic is reducing its ownership stake in Panasonic EV Energy, the hybrid-car battery venture it shares with Toyota, while Sanyo Electronics is considering selling a piece of its rechargeable battery operation to a unit of Fujitsu Corp.

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Battery Monster:  U.S. and China fear Panasonic takeover of Sanyo would give combined companies a near-monopoly on hybrid batteries.
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Panasonic has proposed a friendly $70 billion take-over of Sanyo and without unloading some of their assets the combined companies would control 80 percent of the world's nickel-metal hydride battery market.


NiMH batteries are used in all hybrids made today, and are likely to continue being the main type of battery used in conventional hybrids even after the industry starts using lighter lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrids.


Both companies also have growing lithium-ion battery operations.


U.S. and Chinese regulators have been withholding their approval of the takeover, citing anti-trust concerns.


Monopolies and near-monopolies are rarely good news for consumers (and in this case the consumers are the automakers as well as the general public), but there's one positive note in all this: You know the future is looking bright for advanced batteries and the cars that will use them when two giants like Panasonic and Sanyo want to combine forces to take advantage of future growth.


John O'Dell, Senior Editor 

Tags: Batteries, Japan, EV Batteries, Hybrid Batteries, Panansonic Sanyo Merger, Panasonic, Sanyo

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Sanyo, Panasonic Shedding Some Battery Assets To Facilitate Takeover was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.