TOKYO & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Panasonic Corporation (“Panasonic”) and KKR, a leading global investment
firm, today announced the completion of a share purchase agreement and a
shareholders’ agreement under which Panasonic and KKR have become joint
partners of Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd. (“Panasonic Healthcare”).
Panasonic and KKR will cooperate in supporting the growth of Panasonic
Healthcare, leveraging their respective business resources, including
their healthcare industry knowledge, technology, and specialist
expertise, as well as KKR’s global healthcare industry investment
experience and network. KKR and Panasonic now own 80% and 20%,
respectively, of Panasonic Healthcare through Panasonic Healthcare
Holdings Co., Ltd.
Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga said, “We understand KKR has been
actively investing in the expanding healthcare sector, and we highly
respect KKR’s industry expertise and its capability to provide the
necessary growth capital and operational know-how, in preparation for
the future development of Panasonic Healthcare in the global healthcare
industry.”
Commenting on the closing, KKR’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO Henry
Kravis said, “We are pleased to have successfully completed this
transaction and we look forward to working together with our new
partners over the long term to support the realization of Panasonic
Healthcare’s significant growth potential. Panasonic Healthcare is a
world-class company and we intend to work together to make it an even
better company. Japan is a very important and attractive market for KKR,
and our experienced team on the ground in Japan will leverage KKR’s
global expertise and experience to make this a highly successful
partnership.”
Panasonic Healthcare President Kenji Yamane said, “Today marks the next
stage in the growth and evolution of Panasonic Healthcare. KKR has built
long-term relationships with its portfolio companies around the world,
and I am delighted for their support as our new partner as we pursue
growth in the medium and long term. We will be working closely with KKR
in Japan and globally to accelerate growth by building out our global
sales channels to major overseas healthcare facilities, and delivering
high quality products and services to customers around the world.”
About Panasonic Corporation
Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and
engineering of electronic technologies and solutions for customers in
residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. Since
its founding in 1918, the company has expanded globally and now operates
over 500 consolidated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net
sales of 7.30 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2013. Committed
to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the
company strives to create a better life and a better world for its
customers. For more information about Panasonic, please visit the
company’s website at http://panasonic.net/.
About Panasonic Healthcare
Established in 1969, Panasonic Healthcare is involved in developing,
manufacturing, selling and servicing medical equipment. It seeks to
strengthen its core businesses, In Vitro Diagnostics including
self-monitoring of blood glucose systems, its Medicom businesses
involved in medical IT businesses and its life sciences based Biomedical
business and to continue to pursue an important role in the provision of
optimal healthcare for all. For further information on Panasonic
Healthcare please visit http://panasonic.net/corporate/segments/phc/.
About KKR
Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George
Roberts, KKR is a leading global investment firm with $94.3 billion
in assets under management as of December 31, 2013. KKR manages assets
through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple
asset classes.
With offices around the world, including seven across the Asia Pacific
region, KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to
its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of
its investments. KKR complements its investment expertise and
strengthens interactions with fund investors through its client
relationships and capital markets platform. KKR & Co L.P. is publicly
traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:KKR), and “KKR,” as used in
this release, includes its subsidiaries, their managed investment funds
and accounts, and/or their affiliated investment vehicles, as
appropriate. For additional information, please visit www.kkr.com.

Panasonic / Panasonic Healthcare
Tokyo Public Relations
Office
Tel: +81-3-3574-5664
Fax: +81-3-3574-5699
or
Panasonic
News Bureau
Tel: +81-3-3542-6205
Fax: +81-3-3542-9018
or
KKR
Asia Pacific
Steven Okun, +65-6922-5800
Steven.Okun@kkr.com
or
KKR
Japan
Ashton Consulting
Tel: +81-3-5425-7220
KKRJapanPR@ashton.jp
or
KKR
New York
Kristi Huller, +1-212-230-9722
Kristi.Huller@kkr.com
Source: KKR