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Japan – Details of Panasonic staffing subsidiary sale released

24 July 2014

Following the announcement earlier this month that electronics giant Panasonic is looking to sell its temporary staffing subsidiary, Panasonic Excel Staff, the company has announced that the bidding process will open in August, reports Bloomberg.

The company expects about 10 staffing and private equity companies, both in Japan and from around the world, will participate in the process. According to sources, the subsidiary is expected to sell for approximately JPY 30 billion (USD 295.7 million).

Following the initial bidding process, the company will narrow the field to three or four preferred bidders at the end of August. A second round of bidding is expected to start in October. A buyer will be chosen in December 2014. 

Panasonic recently embarked on a structural reform and has been selling some of its non-core subsidiaries. In March it sold its healthcare company to US-based investment firm KKR and earlier this month it sold its IT solutions company to IT company Fujitsu.

Panasonic Excel Staff, established in 1989, provides temporary office and engineering workers (known locally as dispatch workers) to Panasonic group companies, as well as other manufacturers. 

According to Staffing Industry Analysts, Panasonic Excel Staff Co is the 10th largest staffing firm in Japan based on annual revenue. A notable feature of the Japanese staffing market is that quite a few agencies are owned by larger business conglomerates (23 out of the top 60) - and sometimes in combination with each other.

Owners of staffing firms include auto and electrical manufacturers, insurance companies, logistics firms, technology/ telecom providers, retailers, engineering companies and banks. In the past few years, there has been a trend for these companies to offload their staffing assets.