Nippon Paper Group Inc., the holding firm of Japan's No. 2 pulp and paper company, said Thursday it will buy Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd. shares to get an equity stake of less than 10 percent.
The move is to block a hostile takeover bid targeting Hokuetsu, the No. 6 in the industry, by the No. 1, Oji Paper Co., it said.
With Nippon Paper's move, Oji's bid -- the first hostile takeover attempt in Japan by a major company of an industry rival -- took a new twist involving three major players in the same sector.