Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp today said that it will acquire a 76.2-per cent stake in Bangalore-based infrastructure protection and security solutions company Firepro Systems.

The Osaka-based company will enter into an agreement of subscriptions of allocation of new shares to a third party with its Indian subsidiary, Anchor Electricals Private Limited.

Panasonic will acquire a portion of Firepro's ordinary shares owned by financial investors, while Anchor will invest in Firepro through a fresh issue of shares. As a
result, Panasonic said that it will own 76.2 per cent of Firepro's shares, including the shares owned by Anchor.

Post acquisition, existing shareholders, including NS Narendra, the founder chairman & managing director of Firepro, will continue to hold 23.8 per cent stake in the company.

Panasonic did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but Firepro was in talks last year to be acquired by US-based United Technologies for $200 million.

Founded in 1992, Firepro provides integrated protection and security solutions such as fire alarm and detection, fire suppression, access control, video surveillance, intrusion alarm, building management systems, consumer safety and security along with complete managed services.

Firepro, which operates out of 14 locations in India and 5 locations globally, has received private equity investment of Rs19 crore from AIG and Rs150 crore from Standard Chartered Private Equity in 2008.

Firepro has been struggling due to the decline of the real estate market since 2008 due to the global financial crisis.

Although it had a strong order pipeline, project execution suffered and payment collections were delayed. To make matters worse, the company had embarked on an aggressive expansion overseas, but the weak realty markets like Dubai added to its troubles.

Panasonic said that it is pursuing with three aims, to move from existing to new fields such as energy, from Japan-oriented to globally-oriented, and from individual product-oriented to solutions- and systems-oriented in order to achieve its transformation into the No.1 Green Innovation Company in the Electronics Industry.

The company said that it has worked to expand its performance in construction-related industries in the Indian market, centring on Anchor. Anchor is a top wiring device manufacturer in India with a good sales network and brand strength and has built a firm position in electrical construction materials for housing in particular.