Unizo Holdings Co. Ltd.'s board agreed to continue talks with Blackstone Group Inc. regarding the private equity giant's approximately ¥171.1 billion takeover offer, Reuters reported, citing the Japanese hotel chain operator.
The targeted company made the decision after deciding that the ¥5,000-per-share proposal "could help maintain and improve corporate value and secure shareholders benefit." It also came after Blackstone warned that it might take more aggressive measures if Unizo did not accept its offer by Oct. 23, according to the news platform.
Unizo earlier already rejected Blackstone's offer along with other buyout proposals from H.I.S. Co. Ltd. and an unnamed but locally renowned fund. The hotelier's decision to turn down these offers elicited questions from its largest shareholder, Elliott Management Corp., along with another warning about upholding the company's "fiduciary duty."
Aside from Blackstone's offer, Unizo also needs to make a decision regarding a separate bid from SoftBank Group Corp.'s Fortress Investment Group LLC. The acceptance period for the ¥4,000-per-share offer was extended to Nov. 1 from Oct. 17.
As of Oct. 21, US$1 was equivalent to ¥108.56.