Toyota Group¡¯s proposed ?4.7 trillion ($30 billion) offer to privatize a forklift-maker has prompted one of the world¡¯s most tenacious activist funds to call it a lowball offer. A closer look at the target¡¯s shareholdings helps explain why.
The buyout target, Toyota Industries, owns shares valued at ?5.6 trillion, just shy of the company¡¯s own market value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That makes the June buyout offer nearly ?1 trillion, or 16%, below the value of those shareholdings.
Toyota Industries was founded nearly a century ago as a loom-maker by the great-grandfather of Toyota Motor¡¯s current chairman, who heads the real estate firm leading the buyout. Besides the historical significance of Toyota Industries, the bulk of its holdings are those of other group firms, making Toyota Industries a strategic company.
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