Panasonic buys majority stake in India's Firepro

Panasonic is planning to acquire majority share in Firepro Systems, an Indian company providing security and building protection products to grow the Japanese company's business in the country beyond just consumer electronics.

According to a report by the Times of India, Panasonic will be acquiring 76.2 percent of the Indian company via two avenues. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Anchor Electricals, will buy into the company through a fresh issue of shares, while Panasonic will also purchase a portion of shares owned by financial investors.

The acquisition is aimed to grow the Japanese company's presence in India beyond consumer electronics to emerge as a "top electronics company by 2018", the report stated. It would allow Panasonic to venture into both housing and non-housing markets.

This deal comes after the company reported that its net income forecast for 2012 will probably be 50 billion yen (US$627 million), more than 50 percent less than the 106 billion yen average estimated by 18 analysts, according to Bloomberg.

The Japanese giant had earlier forecast 780 billion (US$10 billion) net loss for the year due to the global economic slowdown and financial instability due to the European debt crisis, extensive supply chain disruption from the Thailand floods in October last year, and a strong yen.