Activist makes crypto-demands of bitcoin miner
19/01/2018 08:41
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
By Quentin Webb
HONG KONG, Jan 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Hedge fund Oasis
wants reform at GMO Internet, a Japanese firm that looks a bit
like a small SoftBank. The prospects of an across-the-board
victory at a shareholder vote look as unreal as the tokens GMO
mines. Yet this could still prompt a juicy revaluation of the $2
bln target.
Full view will be published shortly.
On Twitter https://twitter.com/qtwebb
CONTEXT NEWS
- Hong Kong hedge fund firm Oasis Management on Jan. 18 said
GMO Internet was undervalued and criticised it as a company with
"weak governance", where founder Masatoshi Kumagai wielded
"excessive control".
- Oasis says it owns more than 5 percent of Tokyo-listed
GMO, which has a market value of about $2 billion.
- GMO's interests span online advertising, internet services
such as web-hosting and domain registration, and financial
businesses such as online foreign-exchange trading. In December,
it launched a crypto-currency mining business.
- Oasis proposed six items for GMO's annual general meeting
in March. It wants to abolish an anti-takeover measure; cap
directors' pay; require an independent chairman; create
Western-style board committees for executive nomination and
compensation; and introduce so-called "cumulative voting", which
would make it easier for outside shareholders to appoint
directors.
- A GMO spokeswoman told Reuters the company had no
immediate comment. Shares in GMO rose 4.7 percent on Jan. 19, to
2,002 yen per share.
- For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on WEBB/
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HK activist Oasis calls on GMO Internet to strengthen governance
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PE0F1
Oasis statement https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180118005904/en/Oasis-Submits-Shareholder-Proposals-GMO-Internet-General
Oasis proposal https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a29ef49bff200c948a46d63/t/5a5c1c49c83025289a993c09/1515985996116/GMO_Oasis+Shareholder+Proposal_ENG_Final.pdf
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(Editing by Una Galani and Sharon Lam)
((quentin.webb@thomsonreuters.com;)(Reuters
Messaging:)(quentin.webb.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: JAPAN STOCKS/ACTIVISTS BREAKINGVIEWS