Dissident Investors unsuccessful in Japan
| June 27th, 2008 |
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| Both J-Power and Nipponkoa Insurance Co successfully rebuffed foreign
shareholder activists at their annual meetings. Investors at J-Power
rejected the proposals by The Children's Investment Fund (TCI). These
proposals included increases in dividends, changes in top management,
and rejection of the company president's re-election. TCI claimed that
it lost the vote due to cross-shareholders in the company.
Cross-shareholding refers to the practice of business partners buying
stakes in each other. TCI had previously put forth a motion to cap
cross-shareholding investments.
At Nipponkoa Insurance Co, chairman Makoto Hyodo was re-elected to his
position despite opposition from Southeastern Asset Management, the
company's largest shareholder. The two results seem to reflect a
Japanese trend of adopting antitakeover defenses such as
cross-shareholding. |
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For Detailed Investor Profiles on these Investors, click below: |
| | Childrens Investment Fund LP; | Childrens Investment Fund Management (UK) LLP; | TCI; | The Children's Investment Fund; | The Children's Investment Fund Foundation | 1 Comments
by Jeremy C on July 8th, 2008
Looks like the activist approach has its limits in Japan. Are there other countries that are more receptive to this strategy? Any ADR ideas would be great.
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