Business | Investment
Japan investigates $190b purchase of controlling stakes
An obscure Japanese company has created a stir by making the very unlikely claim that it spent about $190 billion to take controlling stakes in Sony and five other major companies.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:33 January 26, 2008
Tokyo: An obscure Japanese company has created a stir by making the very unlikely claim that it spent about $190 billion to take controlling stakes in Sony and five other major companies.
Japan's financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency, said on Friday it was investigating the veracity of the filing by Teramento Corporation given the "extraordinary transaction size" of stocks it claims to have purchased.
In the filings, Teramento says it bought 51 per cent stakes in Sony, Toyota Motor, Astellas Pharma, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Fuji Television Network.
Teramento's claims were dismissed by the companies named and local media as surely false.
For example, the filing says that it acquired about 511 million Sony shares on Nov. 12 last year when only 7.8 million Sony shares exchanged hands on that day on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
'Unthinkable'
"This is really unthinkable from a common sense perspective," said a Sony spokesman.
The incident could nevertheless prompt the FSA to review a filing system that is closely watched by investors for changes in share ownership and a major factor in moving stock prices. Under the current scheme, an individual or company can get a password to enter the system if they have submitted their certificate of residence or articles of incorporation to the regulator.
Those individuals or companies can then make filings public with virtually no intermediary check from the regulator.
Rigorous action
Teramento submitted the reports at about 4.12 pm on Friday after the Tokyo stock market had closed through the system, which is called Edinet (Electronic Disclosure for Investors' Network) and can be accessed through the internet.
The FSA said it would "rigorously take action, including a correction order, if the reports are found to be materially misstated".
According to the filing, Teramento is based in Kawasaki City near Tokyo, was established in November last year, and is involved in several industries including information technology, automobile, aerospace, nuclear energy and broadcasting.
Business registration papers filed in November showed that the company was capitalised at 1,000 yen ($9.36), the Nikkei business daily said.
No one answered the phone number given by Teramento on the filing.
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