SoftBank's LY, Bain raise Kakaku bid again, widen lead over rival EQT offer
SoftBank's LY, Bain raise Kakaku bid again, widen lead over rival EQT offer TOKYO, July 2 (Reuters) - SoftBank's LY Corp 4689.T and Bain Capital have raised their bid for Kakaku.com 2371.T again, valuing the Japanese price-comparison website operator at 670 billion yen ($4.12 billion) and widening their lead over a rival offer from Sweden's EQT EQTAB.ST.
In the legally binding offer announced late on Wednesday, LY and Bain said they would raise their bid for all outstanding Kakaku.com shares to 3,384 yen apiece from 3,232 yen proposed in May.
They said the offer would increase to 3,500 yen per share if KDDI Corp 9433.T, one of Kakaku.com's biggest shareholders, agrees to support the bid.
In light of the new proposal, Kakaku.com said in a statement on Thursday it would seek discussions with EQT over its offer price, currently at 3,000 yen, while maintaining its support for the Swedish investment firm's bid.
It withdrew its recommendation for shareholders to support that bid, changing its stance to "neutral", adding that it would engage in talks with both bidders.
($1 = 162.4900 yen)
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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