TOKYO (AP) -- Goldman Sachs said Thursday it rejected a second offer by Panasonic to buy Goldman's stake in Sanyo, showing that Panasonic is having a tough time taking over Sanyo Electric Co. to create an electronics giant.
Since announcing its intentions to acquire Sanyo last month, Panasonic has been trying to buy stakes from Sanyo's top three shareholders, including Goldman -- but so far without success.
Goldman, which had rejected Panasonic's earlier offer last week as too low, said it also declined the new offer Thursday.
"We decided not to accept the offer. We don't believe this process and price is fair for all Sanyo shareholders," said Miyako Takebe, a spokeswoman for Goldman, which owns preferred shares that can be converted to 29 percent of outstanding shares.
Panasonic declined to comment.
Goldman, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. together control about 70 percent of Sanyo's shares.
Daiwa Securities spokesman Kenichi Kanda said nothing has been decided and declined to confirm if there as a new offer, but added: "We are taking a positive look at the proposed deal."
Sumitomo Mitsui officials were not available for comment.
Japanese media reports said Panasonic raised its offer to 130 yen per share for Sanyo from the earlier 120 yen, but that was still below market price. Sanyo shares fell 12.4 percent to 148 yen Thursday.
Panasonic, which changed its name from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. earlier this year, made a similar offer to Daiwa and Sumitomo separately Wednesday, The Nikkei business newspaper reported.
Panasonic and Sanyo last month said they were starting talks on a buyout deal they hoped to complete by year-end. Panasonic has said it wants to turn Sanyo into a group company by acquiring 50 percent to all of its shares.
Sanyo, founded by a brother-in-law of Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita, is a popular brand but has been seen as a relative loser in Japan's competitive electronics sector.
Sanyo shed divisions including its mobile phone business, and reshuffled top management after a 2007 accounting scandal.
In 2006, Goldman, Daiwa, and Sumitomo Mitsui rescued struggling Sanyo with a 300 billion yen bailout. Daiwa also received preferred shares that can be converted to 29 percent of outstanding shares, while Sumitomo Mitsui has a 12.3 percent stake.
Panasonic shares fell 5.2 percent to 1,034 yen in Tokyo.