Japan's Nitori says to make counter bid for Shimachu (updated)
29/10/2020 07:19
(Adds details on counter-bid)
TOKYO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Japanese furniture retailer Nitori
Holdings Co 9843.T said on Thursday it plans to launch a $2
billion counter bid for home improvement retailer Shimachu Co
8184.T .
Nitori said it would pay 5,500 yen per share for Shimachu,
which had agreed to be bought by its bigger rival DCM Holdings
Co 3050.T for $1.6 billion. Nitori's bid would value the deal
at 214 billion yen ($2.04 billion).
Nitori is the latest Japanese company to propose a takeover
without prior agreement of the target's management, a trend that
is gathering pace as companies increasingly seek growth from
mergers.
The move is also driven by a government push for better
corporate governance, which puts management under pressure to
give shareholders higher returns.
Last week, Nitori flagged a possible bid to buy Shimachu on
the day an investment group backed by a prominent activist
investor, Yoshiaki Murakami, revealed that it owned a stake of
8.38% in Shimachu, adding that DCM's offer might be cheap.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2HB52D
Shimachu shares closed Thursday at 5,060 yen, having risen
44% since DCM announced its bid on Oct. 2.
Nitori said its bid would be launched next month after it
clears antitrust issues.
DCM's offer is set to run until Nov. 16.
($1=104.7000 yen)
(Reporting by Junko Fujita;
Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Clarence Fernandez)
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