UPDATE 1-Panasonic acquisition of Sanyo to be delayed -paper

TOKYO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp's acquisition of smaller rival Sanyo Electric Co will likely be delayed by a few months as anti-trust regulators examine the deal, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

Panasonic had planned to make Sanyo its subsidiary by the end of March through a tender offer, but this could be delayed to summer as global regulators study the impact their merger will have on the battery market, the newspaper said.

While regulators are not expected to block the deal, a delay would mean that Goldman Sachs, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and Daiwa Securities SMBC would have to wait a bit longer to cash out of investments made in a bailout of Sanyo in 2006.

Panasonic will announce the delay later on Friday, the newspaper said. Panasonic spokesman Akira Kadota declined to comment on the report.

Panasonic, formerly known as Matsushita Electric, said in December that it would spend up to 800 billion yen ($8.1 billion) to take control of Sanyo, fortifying its competitiveness in rechargeable batteries and solar power equipment.

Sanyo is the world's top maker of rechargeable batteries and is developing lithium-ion batteries for cars with Volkswagen AG . Panasonic runs an auto battery joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp.

Goldman, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Daiwa Securities SMBC hold nearly 430 million of Sanyo's preferred shares, each of which can be exchanged for 10 common shares. If converted, Goldman and Daiwa Securities SMBC would each hold a 29 percent stake, while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking would hold about 12 percent.

Daiwa Securities SMBC is a joint venture between Daiwa Securities Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is Sanyo's main bank and part of SMFG.

Shares of Panasonic rose 1.5 percent to 1,155 yen, helped by an investment rating upgrade by Credit Suisse and outperforming a 0.7 percent rise in the Nikkei average.

Sanyo shares fell 1.4 percent to 137 yen.

(Reporting by Sachi Izumi, Nathan Layne and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) ($1=98.49 Yen) Keywords: SANYO/ ([e-mail]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]; [phone]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.