EQT has increased its tender offer for Japanese online price comparison and review platform Kakaku.com, raising the stakes in an increasingly competitive buyout contest that highlights intensifying private equity activity in Japan, according to a report by Reuters.
The Swedish investment firm has lifted its offer to JPY3,450 per share from its previous JPY3,000 proposal, valuing Kakaku.com at approximately JPY682bn ($4.2bn). The revised bid surpasses the JPY3,384-per-share offer proposed by a consortium comprising LY Corp, a subsidiary of SoftBank, and Bain Capital.
Alongside the higher offer, EQT has extended the tender offer period until 3 August, providing shareholders with additional time to consider the revised proposal.
The competing bid from LY Corp and Bain Capital has yet to be formally launched. However, the consortium has previously indicated it would raise its offer to JPY3,500 per share if Kakaku.com’s largest shareholder, KDDI Corp, agrees to support the transaction.
Activist investor Oasis Management, which owns a 19.52% stake in Kakaku.com, had earlier agreed to tender its shares to the LY-Bain consortium, subject to the bidders securing the backing of the company’s management.
The contest for Kakaku.com reflects the growing level of competition in Japan’s mergers and acquisitions market, where governance reforms and pressure to improve corporate value have encouraged an increasing number of take-private transactions.
