Elliott Investment Management has increased its stake in Toyota Industries Corp to 6.7% from 5%, intensifying its campaign for a higher valuation in the Japanese manufacturer’s proposed privatisation, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The activist hedge fund, now the company’s second-largest shareholder after Toyota Motor Corp and its affiliates, is urging minority investors to reject the Toyota group’s buyout offer, arguing the stock is worth JPY25,000 per share – well above the revised JPY18,800 bid.
Elliott’s move could complicate the Toyota group’s effort to reach the 42% tender threshold required to initiate a minority squeeze-out. The tender offer, which runs through February 12, aims to bring Toyota Industries under the control of Toyota Fudosan Co, chaired by Akio Toyoda, grandson of the carmaker’s founder.
