TOYOTA Motor and two affiliates will sell 33.9 million shares in group supplier Aisin, the companies said on Thursday (Jun 27), a deal worth 177.5 billion yen (S$1.5 billion) as of the latest stock price.
The other sellers are Denso and Toyota Industries, Aisin said, adding the sale price has yet to be determined.
Toyota, the world’s top-selling automaker, said in a separate statement it will reduce its stake in Aisin to 20 per cent from 24.8 per cent of issued shares by selling about 13 million shares.
The latest sale follows a similar move in November when Toyota, Aisin and Toyota Industries decided to sell shares in Denso, an action that sparked investor hopes the automaker would shed more of its cross-shareholdings.
Toyota has been looking to cash in on stakes in affiliates as it steps up development and production of battery-powered vehicles. It intends to review its capital ties with other group companies on a one-by-one basis, it said in its statement.
As part of the sale, Denso and Toyota Industries will sell just under 13 million shares each through a secondary offering and Toyota about 7.9 million, Aisin said in a statement.
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Toyota plans to sell another five million shares through the offering’s overallotment.
Aisin said in separate statements it would buy back some 17 million shares, a move that could help offset the market impact of the sale, and conduct a 3-1 stock split later this year.
Japanese companies traditionally took stakes in affiliates and business partners – a practice known as cross-shareholding – but have been under pressure to unwind those holdings to improve their use of capital. REUTERS
