TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese casual dining chain Ootoya Holdings <2705.T> rebuffed a takeover move by restaurant group Colowide Co <7616.T> announced on Thursday, becoming the latest in a growing list of hostile takeover targets in the country.
Colowide, which already owns a 19% stake in Ootoya, said in a statement on Thursday that it would launch a tender, seeking to increase its stake to as much as 51%, offering to buy the shares at 3,081 yen, a premium of more than 45% on Wednesday’s closing price.
Ootoya said the announcement by Colowide, which runs popular restaurants such as barbecue chain Gyu-Kaku, had come as a surprise and that a majority of shareholders were against the move.
Hostile takeovers are rare in corporate Japan, which values consensus, but increasing pressure on companies to deliver shareholder returns amid a sluggish domestic market have prompted more such moves.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Susan Fenton)
