Sanyo Electric Co. is in talks with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other firms over the sale of part of its 52 percent stake in Sanyo Electric Credit Co., sources said Thursday.

The home electronics maker believes Goldman Sachs is the most likely buyer for the company's financial arm, which is saddled with large interest-bearing debts, the sources said.

Sanyo Electric is looking to remove the subsidiary's results from its group financial statements, thereby cutting the amount of debt on its consolidated statements, they said, noting this would bolster group's financial health.

In addition to the proposed share purchase, Goldman Sachs is expected to buy new shares set to be floated by Sanyo Electric Credit under a third-party share allotment scheme, the sources said.

Goldman Sachs is also willing to funnel fresh capital into the electronics maker itself by purchasing shares that will be floated by Sanyo Electric, they said.

Sanyo Electric is proceeding cautiously in the share sale negotiations, with trading house Mitsui & Co. having rejected a similar proposal in mid-November, the sources said.

Sanyo Electric Credit is listed on the first section of both the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange.

A Sanyo public relations official declined comment on reports that these negotiations were under way.

Earlier in the day, a daily reported that Sanyo is also considering a new venture with China's biggest home appliance maker, Haier Co., as part of a plan to restructure its money-losing home appliance division.

Sanyo posted a net loss of 142.52 billion yen in the first half of the current fiscal year, a sharp plunge from the 3.40 billion yen profit seen in the same period last year.