The planned buyout of Toyota Industries would strengthen the Toyoda founding family’s grip on the automotive conglomerate.A group company of Toyota Motor said on Thursday that the tender offer period for its buyout of forklift maker Toyota Industries will be extended until March 2 to increase the chances of the bid succeeding.
The deadline was extended from February 12 to give shareholders a fresh opportunity to decide whether to tender, Toyota Asset Preparatory, which is the entity through which the bid is being made, said in a filing.
Shares of Toyota Industries rose after the disclosure, briefly rising as high as 20,000 yen, up from around 19,400 yen before. The stock was last up 1.0 per cent at 19,865 yen.
The planned buyout of Toyota Industries, which holds 9 per cent of Toyota Motor and has stakes in a number of other group firms, would strengthen the Toyoda founding family’s grip on the automotive conglomerate.
However, the deal has run into staunch and high-profile opposition from US activist investor Elliott Investment Management and others, becoming a test case of governance for Japan’s most storied company and for Japan Inc more broadly.
