Tokyo - Japanese electronics companies Panasonic Corp and Sanyo Electric Co began negotiations Friday on a capital and business partnership.

The two companies plan to settle the talks by the end of December for Panasonic to undertake a tender offer in January to acquire a majority of shares in Sanyo and make it a subsidiary in April.

If the merger is successful, Panasonic would become Japan's largest electronics manufacturer.

Panasonic hopes to secure a basic agreement with Sanyo's three shareholders - Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, the Daiwa Securities SMBC group and the Goldman Sachs group.

Sanyo, which agreed in principle to a tender offer by Panasonic, is the world's largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for personnel computers and mobile phones as well as a maker of solar batteries.