(BFM Bourse) – Stuck in a governance crisis for a decade, the Japanese electronics and IT giant is now studying the possibility of being taken over, after a new snub from its shareholders who refused the proposed split presented by the group.
Japanese industrial and technology conglomerate Toshiba, which has been in existential crisis for years, officially suspended its split plan after it was rejected by a majority of its shareholders at the end of March and will examine possible takeover offers. Toshiba has decided to set up a “special committee” made up of the group’s six outside directors, in order to engage in “discussions with potential investors and financiers” and to compare possible takeover offers, according to a press release published Thursday evening. in Japanese time.
Asset disposals will also be suspended pending the first conclusions of the special committee, which will also work on the group’s future business model, it is specified. On March 24, Toshiba shareholders rejected its plan to split into two independent entities by 2023, a new humiliation for the group which has suffered the anger of its activist shareholders for almost two years, demanding a better return on their investments. Even if the vote of March 24 was only consultative, the victory of the “no” made in fact almost impossible the continuation of the project of split in the state.
A takeover is a scenario hoped for by many shareholders. But such an operation promises to be complex because Toshiba has many sensitive activities for Japan (civil nuclear equipment, defence, quantum cryptography, etc.).
Bain Capital in ambush
The American investment fund Bain Capital, very experienced in Japan, has notably begun to position itself for a possible takeover bid. Bain has already obtained the support of Toshiba’s largest shareholder, the Singaporean fund Effissimo, which announced last week that it would sell it its share of around 10% of the capital if the American fund launched a takeover bid on the Japanese conglomerate.
Bain Capital knows Toshiba well: it was he who led the consortium of investors who bought Toshiba Memory (now Kioxia) in 2018, the memory chip business of the Japanese group, for the equivalent of 18 billion euros.
“The fact that Effissimo has dubbed Bain is proof that its offer is not superficial,” Justin Tang, chief analyst for the Asia region at United First Partners, told AFP on Friday. Any formal offer would necessarily have to involve a Japanese investor to “lock in” Toshiba’s sensitive assets, he stressed.
The Toshiba title appreciated by 1.86% to 4,980 yen on Friday at the close of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Nikkei index: +0.36%) following the group’s latest announcements, which increase the probability of a term redemption. It nevertheless still yields nearly 40% since its IPO … in 2000.
(with AFP)
Quentin Soubranne – ©2022 BFM Bourse