UPDATE 2-Pioneer to raise up to $438 mln in share offering

* To raise up to $376 mln in overseas offer

* Overseas offer arranged by Deutsche

* To raise $63 mln from Honda, M'bishi Chem, M'bishi Elec

* Offering to boost shares outstanding by up 50 pct (Adds total funds raised, fund manager comments, Q3 earnings)

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp said it would raise up to 39.3 billion yen ($438 million) via new share issues as it aims to strengthen its auto electronics operations to get back on a growth path.

Pioneer, in its sixth straight year of annual loss, saw its home electronics business battered by severe price competition with larger rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and is now withdrawing from the flat TV market.

The company plans to offer up to 92 million new shares in overseas markets, raising up to 33.7 billion yen. Deutsche Bank AG will arrange the public offering.

It also plans to allocate 2.5 billion yen worth of new shares each to Mitsubishi Electric Corp and Honda Motor Co Ltd, and 600 million yen worth of new shares to Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp.

The planned issuance of new shares is expected to boost Pioneer's total shares outstanding by up to about 50 percent.

"We considered applying for public funds and talked with private equity firms. But as we pressed ahead with restructuring, our performance improved to the point where we can raise money from the market," Pioneer President Susumu Kotani told reporters.

Pioneer on Tuesday posted a quarterly operating profit of 1 billion yen for October-December, its first such profit in seven quarters, thanks to cost cuts.

For the full year to March, the company trimmed its annual operating loss forecast to 21.6 billion yen from 25.5 billion yen, beating a consensus for a 25.49 billion yen loss in a poll of nine analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Having turned profitable in the third quarter is a positive development in itself, and the fund raising will fortify its financial standing," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

"This fund raising is not just about money, but it is accompanied by business alliances, sending a tail wind to its recovery trend."

Pioneer has agreed with Mitsubishi Chemical to cooperate in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting business, and it is broadening its ties with Mitsubishi Electric in car navigation systems.

OLED lighting, which uses organic or carbon-containing compounds that emit light when electricity is applied, is a promising next-generation lighting fixture as it is light, thin and bendable, and unlike fluorescent lamps is also mercury-free.

Prior to the announcement, shares in Pioneer closed down 8.6 percent at 349 yen, underperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index, which rose 0.2 percent. ($1=89.68 Yen) (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Junko Fujita; Editing by Michael Watson)