Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Panasonic Corp., the world's largest maker of consumer electronics, reached to a preliminary agreement to buy Sanyo Electric Co., the Nikkei newspaper said.

Panasonic and Sanyo presidents will hold a press conference on Nov. 7 to announce details of the acquisition, the newspaper said, without saying where it obtained the information.

Panasonic plans to make Sanyo a subsidiary by around April next year by buying preferred shares owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the report said.

Panasonic intends to maintain most of Sanyo employees and keep Sanyo as a brand name, the Nikkei said. Panasonic will seek to buy control of Sanyo, a company official familiar with the negotiation said on Nov. 1.

To contact the reporter on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 2, 2008 19:41 EST