Japan's Bull-Dog Sauce says Steel Partners sells shares
TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's Bull-Dog Sauce Co. said Friday that the US investment fund Steel Partners had sold its entire stake in the iconic condiment maker after its defeat in a high-profile takeover battle.
Steel Partners sold its remaining shares in the company as of March 31 and removed its name from the list of shareholders, a Bull-Dog spokeswoman said.
The fund was at the centre of a heated takeover tussle last year with Bull-Dog that set off a legal battle that went all the way to the country's top court.
The sauce maker became the first Japanese company to carry out threats of a "poison pill" defence, a tactic to block takeover bids by issuing new shares to dilute the stake of a bidder.
A spokesman for Steel Partners declined to comment on the fund's decision to sell its shares in Bull-Dog.
The US fund also sold all its shares in soy sauce maker Kikkoman as of the end of March, reaping 2.0 billion yen (19.6 million dollars) in profit, the Nikkei business daily reported, quoting sources.
Kikkoman declined to disclose details on specific shareholders.
After a series of failed takeover bids including for the two sauce makers and for noodle maker Myojo foods in 2006, Steel Partners has said it wants to avoid a hostile takeover bid for another target, Sapporo Holdings.
Unsolicited takeover bids are still rare in Japan where they are seen as an example of a more ruthless form of Western capitalism.
Last month, Steel Partners unveiled a revised takeover offer for the brewer that would limit its stake to one-third, after Sapporo rebutted its original bid.
The Tokyo High Court last year branded Steel Partners an "abusive acquirer" in a major setback to the fund and its head Warren Lichtenstein, who has said he wants to "educate" Japanese managers.
