Japan's Bull-Dog Sauce Co yesterday approved of a defense measure to ward off an unwanted takeover bid by Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore) LP, raising the ante in the battle to fend off the foreign fund.
Despite strong opposition from the Steel Partners' Japan arm, which holds the largest 10.15 percent stake in the firm, the iconic Japanese sauce maker won more than two-thirds of shareholders' votes to issue new shares as a defense measure.
The new shares, aimed to dilute the US fund's stake, will be allowed for its existing shareholders to buy, except Steel Partners.
With the Japanese company's intentions clear, a decision to be made by the Tokyo District Court will now prove crucial in the buyout battle.
The fund, headed by financier Warren Lichtenstein, took its fight to court earlier this month, seeking an injunction to bar Bull-Dog from activating the "poison pill" defense.
Steel Partners argued the measures are discriminatory and violate Japanese law.
After yesterday's shareholders' meeting, Lichtenstein immediately released a comment, saying: "We are disappointed that the proposed stock acquisition rights [SARs] have been approved."
"We believe this anti-takeover measure will materially harm the company's value," he said in the statement. "Such a scheme, if allowed to be carried out, would be detrimental to the legal framework of corporate Japan."
Steel Partners "plans to continue to seek to block the issuance of the SARs through legal action," the statement said.
Steel Partners' Japan unit hiked its tender offer price for the Japanese sauce maker to ?1,700 (US$13.72) per share from ?1,584 and extended the term of the bid until Aug. 10, from Thursday.
Lichtenstein, who faced a media scrum when he held his first press conference in Japan earlier this month, said his offer was a "win-win opportunity" for investors, the company and its employees.
He also accused Bull-Dog's management of failing in its duty to shareholders.
Many companies have been adopting poison pill-style takeover bids in Japan, where foreign hostile takeover bids are still rare and buyout funds have been traditionally viewed as corporate vultures.
Steel Partners has also sought a controlling stake in Sapporo Holdings Ltd, Japan's third-largest beermaker, but the Japanese brewer has also so far shunned its advances.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS