TOKYO: Shares in Sony plunged 8.25 percent on dilution fears after the Japanese electronics giant announced plans to raise $3.6 billion through stock and bond sales.

The stock closed at 3,461.5 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, down 8.25 percent from the previous day, while the benchmark index ended up 0.63 percent.

The company’s market value has climbed in step with its recent recovery progress, and has more than doubled since June 2014 to close to $35 billion.

Sony plans to raise a total of 441 billion yen ($3.6 billion) — more than 10 percent of the company’s market capitalization as of Tuesday. It is the first new share issuance in 26 years, the company said.

Of the 441 billion yen, 321.5 billion yen will be procured though new issuance and a secondary offering of shares.

The company plans to raise another 119.9 billion yen in bonds that can be converted into stocks. The financing is for image sensors for cameras and the shares will be offered in Japan and overseas, the company said.

“As financing this size is unusual, it’s only natural that the stock fell in accordance with an expected dilution” of per-share value, said Hirokazu Kabeya, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

The announcement came with players unsettled by events in Europe, where Greece is lurching toward a default on its debt.

“The timing wasn’t good as the market was already roiled over the Greek problem,” he said.

Worth close to a tenth of its current market value, the share issue provides the clearest signal yet that CEO Kazuo Hirai is prioritizing the sensor business to anchor Sony’s turnaround.

The firm has long been plagued by losses in branded goods like smartphones, hit by fierce competition from both cheaper rivals in Asia and industry giants like Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

The image sensors, a key high-tech component in digital cameras and smartphones, have emerged as one of Sony’s strongest lines alongside its PlayStation video games unit, helping the company recover from a long slide in TV and smartphone sales.

Unlike videogames, developing sensors requires a consistently heavy drain on capital expenditure with Sony’s balance sheet already stretched as it restructures, selling or splitting off loss-making operations and slashing jobs.

Despite Tuesday’s shares drop, Takatoshi Itoshima, chief portfolio manager at Commons Asset Management, said the move was seen as more positive by longer-term investors.