TOKYO (Reuters) – Six major Japanese newspaper companies said on Friday they will buy a third of Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho Ltd to salvage the country’s top maker of newspaper printing presses from a prolonged fight with an unwelcome shareholder over control.
A group company of the Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the world’s largest newspapers by circulation, and five others will pay a total of 2.2 billion yen ($19 million) to buy 32% of Tokyo Kikai from top shareholder Asia Development Capital (ADC).
The 106-year-old maker has been engaged in a closely watched battle with ADC, which owns about 40% of the company. It won supreme court approval last year for a “poison pill” takeover defence against the investment firm.
($1 = 115.5600 yen)
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Sandra Maler)
