Activist investor Oasis sues top executives of Japan's Kusuri No Aoki (updated)

Kusuri No Aoki Holdings

12/07/2024 05:19

(Adds details on lawsuit and ownership, Aoki comment)
       TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-based activist
investor Oasis Management said on Friday it filed a lawsuit
against Japanese drugstore operator Kusuri No Aoki's  3549.T 
president and vice president citing "serious governance
failures".
    Oasis alleged in the lawsuit that Aoki issued stock options
to President Hironori Aoki and Vice President Takanori Aoki in
2020 at a steep discount to their fair value and at the expense
of minority shareholders.
    The activist investor said it was seeking compensation of
about 7.2 billion yen ($45.21 million) in damages. It also urged
Kusuri No Aoki shareholders to vote against the re-election of
the two executives at a general shareholders' meeting on Aug.
16.
    Oasis holds 9.7% of Aoki's shares and is its third-largest
shareholder. It has engaged with the company since 2022 and
first launched a campaign against the firm in 2023, it said in a
presentation.
    Kusuri No Aoki was not immediately available for comment.
        
  
($1 = 159.2500 yen)

 (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing)
 ((kiyoshi.takenaka@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 4563 2788;))