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Livedoor offering broadcaster stake to Fuji Television

Livedoor Co offered to sell its entire stake in Nippon Broadcasting System Inc to Fuji Television Network Inc for about ¥100 billion (US$931 million), the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported on its online news service.

Tokyo-based Livedoor earlier today said it has been in talks with Fuji TV for a capital and business alliance.

The company is asking Fuji TV to pay about ¥6,500 a share for Nippon Broadcasting, more than the average ¥6,300 Livedoor paid, according to the report, which didn't say where it obtained the information.

"It is true that we are talking with Fuji Television about a capital and business alliance, as well as about our Nippon Broadcasting stake," Livedoor said today in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. "No details have been decided."

Fuji TV may acquire about 15 percent of Livedoor for ¥60 billion to ¥70 billion, to thwart any possible attempt by Livedoor to take it over, the report said.

Takafumi Horie, Livedoor's president and founder, won control of Nippon Broadcasting last month, demanding affiliate Fuji TV enter talks to form a group spanning the Internet and the information and entertainment industries.

The Fujisankei Communications Group, Japan's biggest media conglomerate which runs both Fuji TV and Nippon Broadcasting, has been resisting Horie's calls for a partnership.

"It sounds like they've reached a compromise," said Yutaka Murakami, an analyst at Mizuho Securities Co in Tokyo. "It's hard to judge what kind of investment this is because it's not clear what kind of business they're creating."

Victory for Horie would mark the first successful hostile takeover in Japan in five years.

Livedoor's move on Nippon Broadcasting, including purchasing almost a third of the company in off-floor share trading in a single day, has prompted Japanese companies to examine takeover defenses and politicians to review laws to make it difficult for similar tactics to be repeated.

Even with a share exchange with Fuji TV, Livedoor may retain just over one-third of Nippon Broadcasting to keep veto power on board decisions, the newspaper report said.

Should Livedoor sell a stake in itself to Fuji TV, the move would signal an end to Horie's hostile bid for the television network, said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities in Tokyo.

"Fuji TV's stake in Livedoor could help it defend itself against a possible attempt by Livedoor to take it over," he said.
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