Hankyu Holdings Inc. President Kazuo Sumi on Friday ruled out the possibility of his firm changing its public tender offer for Hanshin Electric Railway Co. shares and said it would no longer negotiate with Murakami fund, the top Hanshin shareholder, on the issue.
Sumi made the remarks to reporters in Tokyo after the media reported that prosecutors are investigating possible insider trading by the Murakami fund involving the trading of Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. shares last year.
Hankyu is trying to acquire a minimum 45 percent stake in Hanshin so the two firms can integrate. The Murakami fund, headed by bureaucrat-turned-financier Yoshiaki Murakami, has a 47 percent stake in Hanshin and has been haggling with Hankyu over the share price.