Tokyo: Japanese motorcycle maker Yamaha Motor said it will raise up to 76.1 billion yen (Dh2.98 billion) in a share sale to finance the development of fuel-efficient engines and low-cost bikes for emerging markets.
Hit by a demand slump in the United States and Eur-ope, as well as restructuring costs, Yamaha booked a hefty net loss of 216 billion yen in 2009 and aims to break even this year.
The offering will mark the largest equity-based fund raising by a company in the auto sector since Mazda Motor's deal to procure 98 billion yen in October last year.
Players in the auto market have entered into a costly race to cope with the demand plunge in the United States, the world's largest market, as well as a shift in customer appetite towards environmentally friendly products, including hybrid and electric vehicles.
Yamaha said it will develop more fuel-efficient engines for motorcycles and boats to improve the competitiveness of its products, as well as electric motorcycles and motor-assisted bicycles, for which demand is seen rising. This is the first equity fund-raising by Yamaha since it raised 40.3 billion yen in May 2007.
The company said in a statement yesterday that it would issue up to 63.25 million shares, including a greenshoe option of 8.25 million shares.
