4 days ago
Toyota Industries sinks after parent takeover bid misses expectations
Investors gave a thumbs-down to Toyota Motor's $33bn (R587.91bn) take-private offer for Toyota Industries on Wednesday, highlighting concerns minority shareholders would be short-changed in a landmark restructuring for Japan Inc.
Shares of Toyota Industries, a key Toyota Group company, fell 12% in Tokyo trade a day after the world's top-selling carmaker unveiled plans to take its subsidiary private. The complex, ¥4.7-trillion (R587.88bn) transaction includes an offer price of ¥16,300 (R2,020) a share for Toyota Industries.
While that represents a 23% premium to the price before news of the deal broke in April, it is well below the ¥18,400 (R2,280) shares were trading at on Tuesday, before the offer was formally announced. The shares closed at ¥16,205 (R2,008) on Wednesday.
'To be clear, we welcome the attempt to clear up the parent-subsidiary governance issue. We don't like the price,' said David Mitchinson, founding partner and chief investment officer of Zennor Asset Management, which owns Toyota Industries shares.
When asked if Zennor would tender its shares, he said: 'We will have to see how this develops, as there seems strong opposition from many shareholders.'
While the deal will see some Toyota Group companies unwind cross-shareholdings — a plus for corporate governance — it also appears to strengthen the founding Toyoda family's control over the broader group.
