Daiei Inc. plans to conduct an equity swap for loans to its Fukuoka Daiei Hawks professional baseball club to improve its financial standing, sources familiar with the plan said Saturday.
The struggling retailer plans to conduct the debt-for-equity swap deal -- accounting for some 6 billion yen of a total of around 8 billion yen in loans to the club -- after receiving the approval of the Professional Baseball Organization of Japan and other institutions involved, according to the sources.
After the deal is signed, Daiei's equity stake in the club will increase to about 98 percent from 60 percent, while the stake of Tadashi Nakauchi, the owner of the Pacific League club, is expected to drop to around 2 percent from 40 percent.
On Friday, Daiei formally informed the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan of its decision not to use the state-backed corporate revival entity in the rehabilitation of its hotel, ballpark and baseball management business.