Elliott Investment Management has been approaching asset managers and other institutional investors in Japan to build support for its campaign and push Toyota group to sweeten its ?4.7 trillion ($30 billion) bid to take a key affiliate private, according to people familiar with the matter.
Billionaire Paul Singer¡¯s activist fund, which has quickly built a 5% stake in Toyota Industries, has been meeting with passive investors and other domestic shareholders, and telling them the proposal doesn¡¯t reflect the company¡¯s true value, said the people, who asked not be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. The meetings came ahead of a tender offer period set to begin as soon as February.
Toyota Fudosan ¡ª an unlisted real estate company led by Akio Toyoda, the chairman of Toyota Motor ¡ª is leading the offer to take Toyota Industries private. These maneuvers set up a rare, high-profile clash between one of Wall Street¡¯s most prominent activist funds and Japan¡¯s corporate establishment.
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