TOKYO (Reuters) – Software developer Fuji Soft is planning to announce a tender offer on Wednesday for four listed subsidiaries in Japan, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Trading was halted in Tokyo for the subsidiaries Vinx, Cyber Com, Cybernet Systems and Fuji Soft Service Bureau.
Fuji Soft holds a more than 50% stake in the companies, according to LSEG data.
Japanese companies have come under increasing pressure to improve governance and capital efficiency. One practice that has attracted heightened scrutiny is cross-shareholding, where companies take stakes in partners to cement relationships and avoid activist investors.
Fuji Soft was the subject of a proxy battle last year, when Singapore-based investment hedge fund 3D Investment Partners got two of its nominees on the Japanese company’s board.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Tom Hogue and Jamie Freed)