Tokyo - A company within the Toyota group said on Thursday that it will lengthen the tender offer period for its proposed acquisition of forklift manufacturer Toyota Industries, moving the deadline from February 12 to March 2. The move, the bidder said in a filing, is aimed at improving the likelihood that the tender will succeed by providing shareholders with another chance to decide whether to participate.
The entity handling the bid is identified as Toyota Asset Preparatory. The filing specifies that the extension is intended to give shareholders a fresh opportunity to make a tender decision, without altering other terms disclosed for the offer.
Market reaction followed the disclosure. Shares of Toyota Industries climbed, briefly touching as high as 20,000 yen after trading around 19,400 yen prior to the announcement. By the latest reported quote in the filing, the stock was up 1.0% at 19,865 yen.
The proposed buyout is notable because Toyota Industries is a significant group member that itself holds a roughly 9% stake in Toyota Motor and has ownership interests in several other group companies. The acquisition would therefore reinforce the Toyoda founding family’s control within the broader automotive conglomerate.
However, the transaction has met with vocal resistance. U.S. activist investor Elliott Investment Management, among others, has mounted a high-profile campaign against the deal. That opposition has turned the bid into a prominent governance test for one of Japan’s largest and most storied companies, and observers see the outcome as relevant to corporate governance practices across Japan Inc.
The extension of the tender window does not resolve the substantive debate over the buyout. Instead, it provides additional time for shareholders to weigh the proposal and for proponents and opponents to continue advocating their positions. The filing announcing the extension contains no indication of changes to the financial terms or structure of the offer; it addresses only the timing of shareholder decision-making.
Contextual note: The information presented here reflects the details contained in the filing announcing the extension and the market moves reported immediately after the disclosure. No new terms or outcomes beyond those described in that filing have been introduced.