Japan's Shimachu accepts Nitori's $2 bln buyout bid over DCM's -Nikkei (updated)
13/11/2020 24:03
(Adds expected deal size, background on counter-bid, corporate
governance context)
TOKYO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Japanese home improvement retailer
Shimachu Co 8184.T will accept a $2 billion buyout bid by
furniture chain Nitori Holdings Co 9843.T , the Nikkei reported
on Friday, rejecting an earlier agreed offer from DCM Holdings
Co 3050.T .
Nitori had said it would pay 5,500 yen per share to buy all
of Shimachu in a bid that values the target company at 214
billion yen ($2.04 billion). DCM was conducting its own offer at
4,200 yen per share, which is due to expire on Monday.
Nitori will launch its offer as early as mid-November, the
Nikkei said.
Nitori and Shimachu could not immediately be reached for
comment. DCM declined to comment.
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.
Nitori initially 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 8.38% of
Shimachu, adding that DCM's offer might be cheap. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HK0EZ
($1 = 105.1000 yen)
(Reporting by Takashi Umekawa
Editing by Chris Reese and Sam Holmes)
((Takashi.Umekawa@thomsonreuters.com))