Panasonic is planning sell off the white goods operations of its subsidiary Sanyo Electric Co to Chinese company Haier Group Co for around 10 billion yen.The deal for Sanyo to sell its washing machine and refrigerator operations is set to be complete by the end of the year with most of the division’s 2000 employees transferring to Haier, reported the Nikkei Business Daily.

The acquisition is said to be part of a bid by Sanyo’s recently-acquired parent company Panasonic Corp to reorganise overlapping businesses between the two electronics and appliance groups, says MarketWatch.

Sanyo Aqua and Haier Sanyo Electric Co will be meshed in a 60-40 joint venture between Haier and Sanyo in the impending deal in Japan. The venture is not completely international though, with markets like China being excluded because of Haier’s stronger presence there.

Sanyo products will still be selling under that same brand for an uncertain period in certain markets like Southeast Asia as Haier is given leeway to sell using the Sanyo brand for the time.