Pentel president opposes acquisition of KOKUYO as a subsidiary

Pentel President KOKUYO made a subsidiary "Possible to endure" acquisition November 25 18:46

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Yutaka Wada, president of writing instrument maker Pentel, which is the largest stationery maker “KOKUYO” aims to acquire, responded to an NHK interview, saying “Corporate culture is different from KOKUYO. To protect our corporate culture. “I can't stand making it a subsidiary,” he stressed, saying he was opposed to becoming a subsidiary of KOKUYO.

For Pentel, Kokuyo aims to acquire a majority of Pentel's shares and make it a subsidiary, while another stationery maker, Plus, proposes to purchase up to 33.4% of Pentel's shares, and both sides compete to acquire shares. It has become.

About this, President Wada of Pentel responded to NHK's interview. President Wada responded to the KOKUYO acquisition proposal: “Corporate culture is different from KOKUYO. Social contributions are more important than short-term profits. Emphasized the opposite idea.

On top of that, President Wada said that Plus is moving toward the acquisition of Pentel's shares. “Plus has been working on joint product development for over 6 years. I thought, ”he said, and expressed his thought to prioritize the partnership with Plus.

Furthermore, President Wada said, “When the company philosophy that Pentel has cherished is lost, the company will be formed. I believe that shareholders can fully understand this,” he said. Showed.

Conflict between KOKUYO and Pentel

KOKUYO and Pentel's conflict, the beginning of things, goes back to May.

KOKUYO announced on May 10 that it has invested 10.1 billion yen in an investment fund that owns approximately 37% of Pentel's shares and has become the principal shareholder of Pentel. Pentel rebounded from the sudden announcement.

In September, KOKUYO acquired Pentel shares from an investment fund and switched to direct ownership, and continued to negotiate with strong influence.

KOKUYO will embark on a hostile takeover on the 15th of this month due to the lack of negotiations. Decided to acquire a majority of Pentel shares and announced that Pentel would become a subsidiary.

Pentel opposes this and asks shareholders not to respond to a request to buy shares from KOKUYO. On the 21st of this month, KOKUYO's rival stationery giant Plus will join the battle.

Plus revealed to Pentel's shareholders that they had proposed to buy up to 33.4% of the shares. The purchase period of the positive stock will be until the 10th of next month, and the purchase period of KOKUYO will be until the 15th of the next month.