April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sanyo Electric Co. were suspended from trading in Tokyo after the Yomiuri newspaper reported Matsushita may invest in its smaller rival.

Matsushita, the world's largest maker of consumer electronics, may buy shares of Sanyo and the two may eventually merge, the Yomiuri said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation.

``We're not considering the matter,'' the Osaka-based companies said in separate statements to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in response to the report, without being more specific.

The statements were issued after the Tokyo market opened. Based on regulations, the shares will resume trading 30 minutes after the statements were released, or at 9:41 a.m. today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mari Murayama in Tokyo at mmurayama@bloomberg.netHiroshi Suzuki in Tokyo at hsuzuki5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 27, 2008 20:36 EDT