Livedoor Co, a Japanese Internet portal that's in a takeover battle with the country's biggest media group, said it has accumulated a majority of the voting rights in radio network Nippon Broadcasting System Inc.
Tokyo-based Livedoor holds 15.3 million shares representing 50.21 percent of the voting rights in Nippon Broadcasting, the company said in a statement released through the Tokyo Stock Exchange late Friday. A majority stake would enable Livedoor to make key decisions such as appointing directors.
Livedoor founder Takafumi Horie, 32, is seeking control of Nippon Broadcasting to build an entertainment and information network spanning the Internet and broadcasting.
Fujisankei Communications Group, Japan's biggest media group, whose interests include the radio company and Fuji Television Network Inc, has enlisted rival Internet billionaire Masayoshi Son as it builds defenses against Livedoor.
"Fuji is trying to protect itself and will use any means possible," said Edwin Merner, who oversees US$600 million in assets as president of the Atlantis Investment Research Corp in Tokyo. "All's fair in love and war, and it's war at present."
Nippon Broadcasting loaned 14 percent of its dominant 22.5 percent stake in Fuji TV to Softbank Investment Corp, a venture capital fund founded by Son, to make Softbank the biggest shareholder in the TV network.
In addition, Softbank Investment, Fuji TV and Nippon Broadcasting will set up a ?20 billion (US$188 million) fund to develop film, music as well as Internet programming.
Son, president of Softbank Corp, Japan's No. 2 provider of high-speed Web access, said he was happy to cooperate with Fuji TV, adding he is interested in unifying Internet and television businesses, Kyodo News reported yesterday.
Yoshitaka Kitao, chief executive officer of Softbank Investment, plans to meet with Livedoor's Horie tomorrow, said Kazunori Oomae, a spokesman at Softbank Finance Corp, a holding company that's the biggest shareholder in Softbank Investment.
Softbank Investment may attempt to acquire a stake in Pony Canyon Inc, a film and music software distributor that generates almost two-thirds of Nippon Broadcasting's revenue, through the planned fund, aiming later to sell shares to the public, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported yesterday, citing Kitao.
Fuji Television, Japan's biggest publicly traded broadcaster, is asking shareholders to increase their stakes and other companies to buy its stock in an effort to build a stable shareholder base, Masao Sakai, Fuji TV's senior executive managing director, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Fuji said on March 8 that it held about 36.47 percent of Nippon Broadcasting.
Fuji TV is asking about 50 companies, including Hitachi Ltd and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co, to buy its shares, the Nihon Keizai reported earlier yesterday, without saying where it obtained the information.
Livedoor shares fell 7.3 percent on Friday to ?342, their biggest drop since Feb. 18, on news of Softbank's entry into the takeover fray. Softbank added 3.2 percent to ?4,480 for its biggest rise in more than two months, while Softbank Investment rose 3.5 percent to ?41,500. Nippon Broadcasting fell 11 percent to ?6,500, and Fuji TV declined 1.4 percent to ?281,000.
All the companies are based in Tokyo.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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