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.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique