Japan's H.I.S. says pulls bid for control of Unizo (updated)
24/08/2019 05:22
(Adds background, context)
TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Japanese travel agent H.I.S. Co
9603.T said on Saturday it is abandoning its bid for control
of Unizo Holdings 3258.T , buckling in the face of a 'white
knight' offer from SoftBank's investment firm for the entirety
of the hotel chain.
H.I.S., which already owns 4.79% in Unizo, last month
launched the tender offer to buy about 40% of Unizo shares at
3,100 yen apiece.
H.I.S. said in a statement no shares were tendered to its
offer that ran until Friday.
Unizo had rejected H.I.S.'s offer, which was valued at $390
mln, saying it was too low and lacked synergy. Instead it backed
the bid by Fortress Investment Group, a SoftBank Group
9984.T -owned asset manager, which offered to buy all the
shares in Unizo for 4,000 yen apiece.
The tug-of-war over Unizo has marked a stark departure from
most acquisitions in Japan, where takeovers tend to be
pre-agreed deals waiting to be rubber-stamped.
H.I.S.'s surprise hostile bid has helped Unizo shares more
than double since July 9 - the day before the travel agent's
offer was announced - and provided a boost for minority
shareholders.
Indeed, Fortress could be pressured by minority shareholders
to raise its offer price, market participants had
said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25J1C7
The corporate activity has seen U.S. hedge fund Elliott
Management emerge as a player. Elliott holds a 9.9% stake in
Unizo, while Japan's Ichigo Asset Management has built it stake
to 6.64%, according to public filings. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N25G1MU
Elliott is known for buying stakes in companies in the midst
of acquisitions and forcing better terms for minority
shareholders.
Unizo shares closed up 1.4% at 4,335 yen on Friday, while
those of H.I.S. rose 3.76% to 2,623 yen.
($1 = 106.6200 yen)
(Reporting by Junko Fujita
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
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