U.S. fund says Japan's Shimizu should halt bid seen as unfair to minority shareholders

Shimizu

18/03/2022 09:13

By Makiko Yamazaki
    TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) - A U.S.-based fund has called for
Japan's Shimizu Corp  1803.T  to halt a $190 million bid to take
control of road builder Nippon Road Co Ltd  1884.T , saying the
deal would be unfair to minority shareholders and go against
governance reform.
    In a letter to Nippon Road's board this week that was seen
by Reuters, Kaname Capital objected to Shimizu's bid to double
its holding to 50.1%.
    Kaname, which owns 1.8% of Nippon Road, said the deal would
put minority shareholders at a disadvantage by turning them into
investors in a listed subsidiary.
    "A partial bid is unsatisfactory. Only a 100% bid allows for
fair and equal treatment of all shareholders," the Boston-based
long-only fund said in its letter.  
    The offer price of 10,000 yen ($84.13) a share was too low
given Nippon Road's cash on hand, shareholdings and other
assets, Kaname said, putting the share value closer to 12,500
yen. 

 (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by David Dolan and Kim
Coghill)
 ((Makiko.Yamazaki@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-4563-2805;))