The Japanese electronics and entertainment group plans to rev up its growth engine after several years of restructuring.

Proceeds from the sale of early three-quarters from new shares and the rest via convertible bonds will be used to boost capacity to meet growing demand for its image sensors, which are used in Apple's iPhones and other smartphones.

Shares of the company fell 8.3% on Tuesday, knocking $3bn off the company's market capitalization. The planned share offering is expected to dilute existing shareholders by 9.8 per cent, combined with the convertible bonds.

Some of the market participants liked Sony's move to invest in new growth drivers such as image sensors after recently returning from its loss making electronics divisions, underlined by the sale of its personal computer business.

Naoki Fujiwara, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, said, "This looks like the first step towards shifting from being on the defensive to offensive. The fact that it can turn to the equity market to raise money is a signal of how far its turnround has come".

Sony's new share issuance will be its first since 1989, and comes as Japan's Nikkei 225 is at an 18-year high on the back of a weaker yen and a government-led campaign to improve governance practices of Japanese companies.

According to Dealogic, Japanese companies have raised $9.2bn via 52 new share offerings so far this year, compared with $11bn during the same period last year and $3.7bn in 2012.

The company said in a statement that the main purpose of this fundraising is to secure funds to invest in growth and to strengthen Sony's financial base.