Toyota Industries’ shares hit record on sweetened bid, Elliott’s response awaited

TOKYO: Shares of forklift maker Toyota Industries surged to a record high on Thursday after a sweetened bid from Toyota Motor, trading slightly above the new offer on hopes that a better price might be forthcoming.

The initial deal to take Toyota Industries private that will strengthen the Toyoda founding family’s control of the Toyota group had been criticised by global investors for what they called an opaque valuation.

Toyota Motor, its Chairman Akio Toyoda and group real estate company Toyota Fudosan on Wednesday lifted their offer by 15% to 18,800 yen per share, valuing Toyota Industries at roughly 5.6 trillion yen ($35 billion).

Toyota Industries shares were last trading at 19,080 yen, up 5.9% on the day and 1.5% above the new tender price.

At one point, the shares rose to a record 19,255 yen.

“The revised offer represents a fairer outcome, reflecting share price levels, enhanced negotiations, and improved disclosure,” said Masahiro Akita, senior analyst at Bernstein, predicting a high acceptance rate.

“That said, attention will focus on activist shareholders.” Scrutiny of the deal intensified after Elliott Investment Management disclosed a stake in November and subsequently lifted its holding to 5% last month.

Toyota’s Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon, who also serves as a director at Toyota Fudosan, said on Wednesday the higher price reflected changes in the economic environment and Toyota Industries’ business since June.

The value of Toyota Industries’ stakes in other Toyota group companies has climbed since the deal was announced, thanks to climbs in share prices across the group.

That has prompted some analysts to question the logic behind the higher offer.

“If they believe that 18,800 reflects not only the higher market prices and the lower tax aspect of it, then it implies that they’ve downgraded their value of the underlying business,” said Stephen Codrington, founder of Codrington Japan, an independent research company.

He added that investors may wait until late in the tender period to see if Toyota sweetens the terms again.

“It’ll be very interesting to see what Elliott does now and whether they ramp up their holdings substantially or not,” he said.

The tender opened Thursday and runs until February 12.