Top papermaker Oji Paper Co. made it official Tuesday that it has failed in a hostile takeover bid for Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd.
Hokuetsu shareholders holding a combined stake of only 5.3 percent responded to Oji's takeover bid, the company said. The bid represented the first hostile takeover attempt by a major domestic company of another firm within the same industry.
Through the tender offer between Aug. 2 and Monday, Oji aimed at boosting its 3.45 percent stake in Hokuetsu, the sixth-largest player in the industry, to more than 50 percent by offering 800 yen per share.
With the failure to acquire a majority stake in Hokuetsu, however, Oji will cancel purchases of the shares offered by Hokuetsu shareholders.
After Oji launched the buyout bid, Hokuetsu allocated Mitsubishi Corp. 50 million new shares Aug. 7, making the trading house its largest shareholder with a stake of 24.4 percent in terms of voting rights.
In another move to counter Oji, Nippon Paper Group Inc., the holding company of Japan's No. 2 papermaker, Nippon Paper Industries Co., had taken an 8.85 percent stake in Hokuetsu as of Aug. 8.
Daishi Bank and Hokuetsu Bank, which each held 2 percent stakes, rallied to Hokuetsu by refusing to sell their shares to Oji. The two regional banks are based in Niigata Prefecture.