According to the Sanyo representative, a possible merger would probably not mean that the two company's operations would change significantly. Panasonic is some 20 times bigger than Sanyo, and Sanyo seldom meets Panasonic in business deals.

According to today's press-release the companies are discussing an alliance with the goal of maximising both company's value by finding synergies to grow sales and earnings.

The press-release also reveals that the basis of the ongoing discussions is that Sanyo should become a subsidiary company to Panasonic. However, the doors remain open for alternative solutions.

Panasonic intends to share it's great knowledge of cost-reducing measures and wants to learn more about Sanyo's successful mass-production technology.

SecurityWorldHotel.com asked Martin Peters, marketing manager at Panasonic Systems Solutions Germany, about what Panasonic was looking for with Sanyo but got no answer.