Elliott Investment Management announced on Friday that it will not tender its shares of Toyota Industries into the current extended tender offer and strongly encouraged other shareholders to refrain from tendering as well. The firm went further and urged shareholders who have already tendered to withdraw their shares from the offer.
Market trading reacted quickly to Elliott's statement. Toyota Industries shares advanced 2.33%, reaching 20,450 yen per share after the announcement.
The activist investor has positioned itself as the most outspoken critic of a bid led by a group of Toyota Motor companies to take the forklift maker private. Elliott has repeatedly argued that the offered price is inadequate and is detrimental to the interests of minority shareholders.
When the consortium first tabled its bid, the proposal stood at 16,300 yen per share. That figure was raised to 18,800 yen in January when the consortium launched the formal tender offer. The offer had been scheduled to close on Thursday but was extended, and the timing of a final resolution remains unresolved following the extension and Elliott's public refusal to participate at current terms.
The sequence of events - the initial offer, the January increase, the extension of the tender window and Elliott's appeal to other shareholders - frames the current state of the takeover effort and the immediate market reaction.
Market snapshot:
- Toyota Industries shares rose 2.33% to 20,450 yen after Elliott said it would not tender its holdings.
- Elliott has called on other shareholders to decline the offer and to withdraw any shares already tendered.
- The consortium originally offered 16,300 yen, later increasing its bid to 18,800 yen when launching the tender in January; the offer was extended beyond its scheduled close.