Panasonic Takes Over Spanish Electronics Supplier

MADRID – Panasonic exercises its option to take majority control of FICOSA by buying the Spanish regional government of Catalonia’s 20% share of the Spanish auto-parts maker.

The Japanese developer and producer of consumer and industrial electronics technologies’ stake in FICOSA rises from 49% to 69%. The other 31% will remain in the control of FICOSA Inversion, the company that manages the interests of the Pujol family, founders of FICOSA.

Panasonic will will have seven members on the board of management to FICOSA’s four.

Javier Pujol, son of FICOSA co-founder Jose M. Pujol, will continue as CEO.

In the two years since Panasonic bought a 49% stake in FICOSA the companies have launched

new products such as an electronic rearview mirror that works with cameras, and have accelerated the development of modules required for connected and autonomous cars.

The Catalonian government obtained its 20% stake in FICOSA in 2009 by granting the company a €60 million ($64.7 million) loan that rescued the company from bankruptcy. The loan was tied to FICOSA’s agreement to assume operating a television factory in the town of Viladecavalls that Panasonic’s Japanese rival Sony had closed without notice.

FICOSA eventually hired 550 of the 2,000 people who had been working at the TV factory.

Tensions arising during the global financial crisis of the late 2000s and the absorption of Viladecavalls facility led the Tarrago family, co-founders of FICOSA, to distance themselves from the Pujol family and sell off their stake in the Spanish company.

FICOSA revenues totaled €1.1 billion ($1.12 billion) in 2015 – financial results for 2016 have not yet been released – and employs 10,280 people in 16 countries.