The unusual takeover battle for the ailing lender UFJ Holdings is shaking up Japan's ultraconservative financial industry, but many UFJ shareholders are wondering if anything has really changed.
The Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group disregarded the unwritten rules of Japan's chummy banking world last month when it began an unsolicited bid for UFJ after the bank had already begun merger talks with the larger Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group.
The prospect of a bidding war -- a first for Japan -- fueled hopes among UFJ shareholders that the backroom deal-making that characterized many previous mergers would be replaced by open competition where the interests of shareholders were given priority. But a month into the first takeover battle for a Japanese bank, shareholders complain that they have little information to judge which bid would offer the best value. Mitsubishi Tokyo, UFJ's chosen partner, has made no public offer.
"It looks like UFJ has basically decided to merge with Mitsubishi Tokyo, but they haven't made it clear why. They haven't explained things to minor shareholders and seem to be completely ignoring us," said Shinichi Haneda, a manager of a Japanese stock fund that includes UFJ shares at the AIG Global Investment Management Corp.
Haneda said he had expressed his displeasure to UFJ.
In late August, Sumitomo offered about US$29 billion in stock, but its bid came with a caveat -- it could be changed if Sumitomo found any surprises in UFJ's books.
But shareholders are not likely to receive many more details on Mitsubishi Tokyo's proposal any time soon. The bank likely will not announce its offer price until after UFJ closes its books for the quarter ending this month, said a Mitsubishi Tokyo executive. But there is even a possibility its bid might not be disclosed until after UFJ reports earnings and, more importantly, the amount of its bad loans, for the fiscal year ending March next year, the executive said.
Because of UFJ's bad-loan troubles, Mitsubishi Tokyo says it has an obligation to its shareholders to take a close look at UFJ's books before making an offer. UFJ had some ?3.95 trillion (US$36 billion) in bad loans as of the end of March, 8.5 percent of its loan portfolio, and the most among Japan's top banks.
"We think it's imperative to conduct thorough due diligence before determining the merger ratio," a Mitsubishi Tokyo spokesman, Kohei Tsushima, said.
For its part, UFJ has been trying to convince shareholders that its board is acting on their behalf, though it too has declined to disclose how much Mitsubishi Tokyo might offer. UFJ placed advertisements in The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and Japan's leading financial newspaper, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, on Tuesday stressing that its board is evaluating both proposals with shareholders interests in mind.
"The board confirms that it is carefully examining SMFG's proposal with its external advisers, including its financial advisers who are reviewing the proposal from a shareholder's perspective," said the advertisement, which was addressed to shareholders and signed by the chief executive of UFJ Holdings, Ryosuke Tamakoshi.
UFJ concedes that it has received many complaints from shareholders -- primarily overseas investors -- who want more details on Mitsubishi Tokyo's offer, but the bank said it does not know when it will be able to do that.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)