According to a spokesperson for Japanese-based electronics company Panasonic, the company sold its stake in US-based and Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle company Tesla. The spokesperson revealed that Panasonic sold its Tesla stake for 400 billion yen, the equivalent of $3.61 billion, in the fiscal year ended March.
The company sold its stake in Tesla as it is trying to reduce its dependence on the electric vehicle company, as well as raise funds that would be geared towards growth and expansion plans.
In 2010, Panasonic acquired 1.4 million Tesla shares for a total of $30 million. These shares were purchased at $21.15 each and were worth $730 million at the end of March 2020. Since then, these shares have grown by more than seven times. At $679.82 each, these shares closed 3.5 percent on Thursday.
Analysts hardly had anything negative to say about the deal. Many believed that it was a great deal and was a great time to have sold one’s Tesla shares. Speaking about the deal, Hideki Yasuda – an analyst at Ace Research Institute, said that “the impact of crypto assets may have pushed Tesla’s share price above its intrinsic value, making it a good time to sell.
Tesla shares have seen quite some remarkable growth since its involvement in Bitcoin. Earlier this year, the company decided to accept Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles but put a stop to that out of environmental concerns. Both Tesla shares and Bitcoin benefited from this decision.
Hideki Yasuda also added that Panasonic’s expansion means that there is no need for capital ties with Tesla. Panasonic shares were up more than 4 percent o Friday.
According to Panasonic’s spokesperson, selling the company’s stake in Tesla is only a way of diversifying the company’s battery supply chain. He also clarified that the stake sale will in no way affect the decade-long partnership existing between Panasonic and Tesla. The two companies have had moments of corporate feuds that went as far as executives publicly throwing disparaging remarks at each other. For Panasonic, selling its Tesla stake is just a way of pushing to be at the forefront of the battery business and reducing its dependence on Tesla.
