Fuji's dance with NBS and its suitors.Japan's Fuji Television Fuji Television Network, Inc. (株式会社フジテレビジョン Network has offered to purchase more shares of radio broadcaster Nippon Broadcasting System
NBS - National Bureau of Standards: part of the US Department of Commerce, now NIST. ) and turn it into a subsidiary. The current relationship between the two companies is unusual. Fuji TV owns a 12.4 percent stake in NBS, while Nippon is Fuji's top shareholder with a 22.5 percent stake in the company. That stake was cut down from 32.3 percent last spring, when the value of NBS' shareholding in Fuji TV was larger than the market capitalization Market Capitalization A measure of a public company's size. Market capitalization is the total dollar value of all outstanding shares. It's calculated by multiplying the number of shares times the current market price. This term is often referred to as market cap. of the radio broadcaster itself. This predicament made NBS a hot commodity: acquisition of the company included control of the profitable Fuji TV as well. However, now Fuji TV plans to purchase all the shares it is offered. If the stake is lifted to 50 percent, the deal will cost Fuji 73.3 billion yen (almost U.S.$700 million). If the stake is lifted to 100 percent, Fuji will have to shell out 175 billion yen ($1.65 billion). To finance the large acquisition, Fuji TV will issue 80 billion yen in convertible bonds to Daiwa Securities and will borrow 100 billion yen from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Fuji TV stressed that this offer will pave PAVE Cardiology A clinical trial–Post AV Node Ablation Evaluation the way for the reorganization of its parent company, Fujisankei media conglomerate (consisting of newspaper, publishing and other media outlets). The company has a tough job ahead: trying to convince shareholders that the extremely expensive plan--which will bring on a large amount of interest-bearing debt upon the now debt-free company--is actually a sound business proposition. However, the planned takeover may be derailed, as a result of a development that is rattling Japan and dominating daily headlines. In a hostile and unexpected move, Japanese Internet group Livedoor acquired a 35 percent stake in the radio broadcaster. Livedoor has filed a temporary court injunction to block NBS' issuance of stock warrants that would give Fuji a chance to retain its majority in NBS. In response, Fuji has threatened to sever TO SEVER, practice. When defendants who are sued jointly have separate defences, they may in general sever, that is, each one rely on his own separate defence; each may plead severally and insist on his own separate plea. See Severance. business ties with NBS if the radio station falls under Livedoor's control. But Livedoor is not the only thorn thorn, in botany thorn, sharp-pointed projection on some plants, usually protective in function. Botanically, thorns are distinguished as modified stems (as in the honey locust and hawthorn) from spines, which are modified leaves (as in the barberry), and in Fuji's side, since investment company MAC Co., recognizing an opportunity, accumulated NBS shares, and became Nippon's top shareholder. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion