The family office linked to Nintendo's founder says it has a good chance in its battle for control of a 93-year-old Japanese construction company.
The saga pits Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office (YFO), which manages about ¥200 billion ($1.5 billion) in assets, against Toyo Construction, a firm known for its marine engineering operations. YFO says it has accumulated 27% of Toyo Construction’s shares, mostly in the market.
"If we can create business innovation through our investment in Toyo Construction and build technologies we can sell to the world, that’s good for industries in Japan as well,” Hirowaka Murakami, YFO’s chief investment officer, said in an interview. Though Toyo has balked, he said YFO’s bid has the support of a number of institutional investors.