US fund fails to take over Japan's Bull-Dog
Sunday, 26 August 2007
TOKYO, Aug 25 (AFP): A US investment fund admitted defeat Friday in its closely watched attempt to take over Japan's Bull-Dog Sauce, which carried out controversial defence measures.
The bid, which set off a legal battle that went all the way to Japan's top court, had been seen as a key test for foreign funds fighting Japanese investors in a country where hostile takeovers are rare.
Steel Partners, which had hoped to take 100 per cent of the iconic saucemaker common in Japanese kitchens, wound up with only 4.44 per cent stake -- even less than the 10.52 per cent it had before launching the takeover bid in May.
Steel Partners said Bull-Dog shareholders had offered to sell it a total 1,318,456 shares -- or 1.89 per cent stake -- of the shares in a tender offer that expired Thursday.
The fund "intends to scrutinise the impact on the company's (Bull-Dog) operations and corporate value ... and the capital it has spent on anti-takeover measures," it said in a statement.
Bull-Dog Sauce was the first Japanese company to carry out threats of a "poison pill" -- issuing new shares that cannot be bought by the company making the takeover bid, hence diluting the stake of the undesired suitor.
The bid, which set off a legal battle that went all the way to Japan's top court, had been seen as a key test for foreign funds fighting Japanese investors in a country where hostile takeovers are rare.
Steel Partners, which had hoped to take 100 per cent of the iconic saucemaker common in Japanese kitchens, wound up with only 4.44 per cent stake -- even less than the 10.52 per cent it had before launching the takeover bid in May.
Steel Partners said Bull-Dog shareholders had offered to sell it a total 1,318,456 shares -- or 1.89 per cent stake -- of the shares in a tender offer that expired Thursday.
The fund "intends to scrutinise the impact on the company's (Bull-Dog) operations and corporate value ... and the capital it has spent on anti-takeover measures," it said in a statement.
Bull-Dog Sauce was the first Japanese company to carry out threats of a "poison pill" -- issuing new shares that cannot be bought by the company making the takeover bid, hence diluting the stake of the undesired suitor.