Over 700 Firms Hold Shareholders’ Meetings on Peak Day

June 28, 2018

Tokyo- Marking the peak day of this season for general shareholders' meetings in Japan, 725 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange held such events on Thursday, according to the TSE.

They account for 31 pct of the TSE-listed companies that close their books every March.

Among them were Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. , which is facing opposition from some shareholders to its planned 46-billion-pound buyout of Irish rival Shire PLC, and Fujifilm Holdings Corp., which is mired in a dead end in its bid to acquire U.S. partner Xerox Corp.

At the beginning of this month, the Japanese corporate governance code, compiled by the Financial Services Agency and the TSE in 2015, was revised to urge listed companies to reduce mutual shareholdings and appoint more women and foreign nationals to their boards of directors.

On Thursday, however, shareholders of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings Inc. <9401> voted down a British asset management firm's proposal that TBS unload its shareholdings in companies that are not directly related to its mainstay business and to distribute part of the proceeds from the sale to shareholders.

Meanwhile, some Takeda shareholders who are former workers of the company expressed opposition to the Shire acquisition plan. A shareholder claimed that the buyout is too expensive for the company.

A shareholder proposal demanding that Takeda's management obtain prior approval at a general shareholders' meeting for a corporate acquisition that costs over one trillion yen was rejected, although around 10 pct of its shareholders backed it.

At a meeting of Fujifilm shareholders, company President Kenji Sukeno reiterated the company's position that Xerox's unilateral cancellation last month of its acquisition contract, concluded in January, was invalid, according to participants.

Fujifilm has filed a damages lawsuit against Xerox over its scrapping of the deal, which reflected opposition from major Xerox shareholders, including activist investor Carl Icahn. Jiji Press