One of China's earliest tech giants has agreed to take over the North America and European sales operations for the Japanese brand



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<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>



<ul>
<li>Skyworth will take over Panasonic's North American and European sales operations, and could eventually also take over manufacturing for the brand's European business</li>



<li>The company is trying to privatize its Hong Kong shares, and would re-list its fast-growing new energy unit that helps homes and businesses set up solar arrays on their premises</li>
</ul>



Skyworth Group Ltd. (0751.HK; 000810.SZ), a pioneer on China's tech scene as a leading TV maker in the 1990s, has become a company with many moving pieces lately. It was one of the first from its class when it listed in Hong Kong in 2000, and looks set to end that run with a de-listing plan announced last month.



But that's hardly the end of its story. Over the years its founder, the colorful Huang Hongsheng, found himself in jail for three years for embezzlement, and has launched an electric vehicle (EV) company since his release in 2009. He left the original Skyworth some time back, and handed it over to his son, Lin Jin, who became chairman in 2022.



Now, Lin may be putting his own stamp on the company with not only the privatization plan, but also another plan revealed last week to take over a big chunk of the global sales business for Japan's Panasonic (6752.T) TV brand. The plan comes just a month after Chinese rival TCL Electronics (1070.HK) did a similar deal to take over the TV and home audio business of consumer electronics giant Sony through the establishment of a joint venture.



The sale of major TV brands has been going on for quite some time now, with names like U.S.-based Zenith sold to a Korean buyer in 1995, and TCL buying France's Thomson TV brand in 2003. But Sony and Panasonic, along with South Korea's Samsung and LG, have been some of the few holdouts as Chinese brands have come to dominate the market.



Under the latest deal announced by Skyworth, Panasonic will transfer its TV sales operation for North America and Europe to Skyworth for an undisclosed sum. Panasonic will continue to oversee sales in its home Japan market. The Japan and European markets currently account for 80% to 90% of the brand's TV sales, split roughly evenly between the two. North America accounts for a relatively small portion.



Panasonic will continue to oversee manufacturing for its TVs for now, but also appears likely to transfer a portion of that to Skyworth for its TVs sold in Europe in the future, according to Nikkei Asia.



The move could provide a boost for Skyworth's TV sales, which currently account for more than half of the Hong Kong-listed company's revenue under its smart household appliances segment. The TV business hasn't been providing much lift to Skyworth's top line lately, growing by around 2% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, split roughly evenly between China and international markets.



The company's other revenue comes from several sources, including a &#34;smart systems technology&#34; business that covers broadband equipment; and a &#34;modern services business&#34; that covers maintenance, repairs and logistics for home appliances. But the most promising of its other units is its new energy division, which helps enterprise and residential customers set up solar arrays on their premises, known in the industry as distributed power. Such systems are growing in popularity, especially with help from government subsidies, as they allow users to lower their electricity costs and sell excess power they generate back to the grid.



<h4>Privatization and re-listing</h4>



While the TV business could get a lift from the Panasonic deal, that boost could be irrelevant to holders of Skyworth's current Hong Kong-listed shares if the company succeeds in a privatization bid announced in January. Under that deal, Skyworth would buy back all of its Hong Kong stock through a combination of cash and shares in its new energy business. The new energy unit would then be separately listed through a process called &#34;listing by introduction&#34; that doesn't raise any new cash.



The privatization deal would see each current shareholder receive the equivalent of HK$10.16 in cash and shares of the new company – roughly double the HK$5.18 price where the stock was trading before a suspension pending the January announcement. The stock has rallied somewhat since then. But its latest price of around HK$7 is still well below the buyout offer value, indicating there's quite a bit of skepticism that the privatization will succeed.



Among the early field of TV makers that were arguably China's earliest tech leaders, TCL is the clear leader, and Skyworth may come second. TCL has succeeded partly by investing heavily in big-screen manufacturing technology, giving it better control of its production. TCL currently boasts the highest gross margin among its peers, at about 15.4%, compared with 12.3% for Skyworth in the first half of last year and just 4.5% for the smaller Konka (200016.SZ).



As we've already pointed out, Skyworth's TV business is growing very slowly, if at all. That sluggishness has dragged down the company's overall revenue, which fell 6% in 2024. But the company returned to strong growth in the first half of last year, as its revenue rose 20% thanks to 53% growth for its new energy unit that generated 13.8 billion yuan ($2 billion), making up 38% of total revenue. Given that strong growth, it's no surprise Skyworth wants to separate the new energy business from the slow-growth TV segment for its own new listing.



You have to credit Lin Jin, whose family still controls 66% of Skyworth's shares, with trying to take the company in a new direction nearly four decades after his father first set up the firm in 1988. The aging Huang Hongsheng hasn't exactly been sitting idle these days either, making headlines in 2024 after claiming that driving models from his current EV venture could help lower blood pressure and improve immunity.



The bottom line is that Skyworth's TV business is rapidly aging after its successful run in its first 30 years. Anyone who purchased the shares for the HK$2.07 IPO price in 2000 listing would be making a decent return, increasing their investment by a factor of five if the company's buyout offer succeeds.



It's also possible the company could later re-list its TV business in Hong Kong if it gets a big enough boost from the Panasonic deal and finds other ways to revive the Skyworth brand. But any such move would probably be at least several years away, and a better bet for now could be Skyworth's new energy arm if it succeeds in separately listing that unit.



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Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

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Skyworth Group Ltd. has agreed to take over Panasonic's North American and European TV sales operations, potentially expanding into manufacturing for Europe. This move comes as Skyworth seeks to privatize its Hong Kong shares and re-list its new energy unit. The TV business has seen stagnant growth, with a 2% year-on-year increase in the first half of 2025. The privatization plan offers shareholders HK$10.16 per share, but skepticism remains as the stock trades below this value. Skyworth aims to revitalize its TV segment amidst increasing competition from rivals like TCL.

Skyworth Boosts Stagnant TV Business With Panasonic Deal