[May 01, 2013] Panasonic sells shares of Toyota, others for 100 bil. yen Tweet (Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) OSAKA, May 2 -- (Kyodo) _ Panasonic Corp. has sold some of its stocks cross-held with its 228 business partners, including Toyota Motor Corp., for about 100 billion yen to raise funds and improve its financial base, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday. With the funds raised by the sale, the troubled consumer electronics maker will repay interest-bearing debts such as corporate bonds, they said. Panasonic is set to book about 30 billion yen in profit on sales of stocks in its earnings report for fiscal 2012 to be released May 10. The manufacturer's cash reserves have decreased due to its sluggish performance, excessive investment in plasma displays used in flat-panel televisions and the acquisition of Sanyo Electric Co., according to the sources. In March, Panasonic sold its interest in its Tokyo Shiodome building for around 50 billion yen. (c) 2013 Kyodo News International, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]