Fujitsu's biggest shareholder to unload $1 bln worth of stock (updated)
07/02/2017 08:56
* Fuji Electric to sell 8.2 pct of Fujitsu's stock
* Shares are set to be sold to overseas investors
* Fujitsu plans to buy back 1.9 pct of outstanding stock
(Recasts and adds details of the sale)
By Taiga Uranaka
TOKYO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Fujitsu Ltd's 6702.T biggest
shareholder is planning to sell about $1 billion worth of the
Japanese electronics conglomerate's stock, part of a plan by the
two firms to unwind their cross-shareholdings.
The sale comes at a time when Tokyo-listed firms are under
pressure to justify their holdings after Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe's government introduced a new corporate governance code in
2015.
While cross-shareholdings aimed at cementing business ties
are common in Japan, they are often criticised for making
management less responsive to individual and overseas
shareholders.
Fujitsu's biggest shareholder, Fuji Electric Co 6504.T ,
plans to unload about 8.2 percent of its stock, most of its
holding. SMBC Nikko Securities has been hired as an underwriter
to sell the stock to overseas investors.
Terms of the share sale have not been decided but based on
Fujitsu's Tuesday closing price, the shares would be worth about
114 billion yen ($1 billion).
Fujitsu also said it plans to buy back up to 1.9 percent of
its outstanding shares for as much as 25 billion yen to
alleviate the impact of such a large stake sale on existing
shareholders.
Fujitsu was originally created in 1935 as a telephone
equipment subsidiary of Fuji Electric.
Fujitsu, also the biggest shareholder in its former parent
with a 10 percent stake, said it plans to sell its holding in
Fuji Electric but the timing and scale of the sale has yet to be
determined.
($1 = 111.9700 yen)
(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Chris Gallagher; Editing by
Edwina Gibbs)
((chris.gallagher@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/ChrisGallagher4;
81-3-6441-1842; Reuters Messaging:
chris.gallagher.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: FUJITSU EQUITY/