Toshiba's top investor to sell stake in JIP offer, source says

By Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) -     Toshiba’s largest shareholder Effissimo Capital Management has decided to tender its 9.9% stake in the $14 billion takeover offer by Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), a source said on Friday, raising the odds of the bid succeeding.

JIP, a private equity firm, launched a 4,620 yen-per-share bid to take Toshiba private last month, a move that would put the electronics-to-power stations maker in domestic hands after years of battles with overseas activist shareholders.

The offer, which will end on Sept. 20, needs at least two-thirds of shareholders to tender their shares for it to succeed.

Singapore-based Effissimo made the decision to tender its stake "as a result of dialogue with Toshiba and related parties including the tender offerer," said the source with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified as news is not public.

"We welcome our shareholders to tender shares," Toshiba said in a statement in response.

Other major shareholders, Elliott Management and Farallon Capital Management, both have their executives on Toshiba’s board which has unanimously approved the JIP takeover.

Singapore-based fund 3D Investment Partners, previously Toshiba’s second-largest shareholder, revealed in a filing in March that it had cut its stake to 4.90% from 7.20%.

Sources have said top activist shareholders were eager to exit, even though the offer price was unsatisfactory.

Effissimo first invested in Toshiba in February 2017, when Toshiba was in the middle of crisis over massive losses in relation to its U.S. unclear unit Westinghouse Electric.

It also participated in the 600 billion yen ($4.07 billion)emergency capital raising in December 2017, which brought in 30-plus overseas investors including prominent activist shareholders such as Elliott and Third Point.

($1 = 147.4700 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Writing by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Neil Fullick and Shri Navaratnam)