Steel Partners Sells Off Stake in Bull-Dog Sauce, Ends Takeover Battle
By Kyodo News International, Tokyo
Apr. 18–TOKYO — Steel Partners sold off its stake in Bull-Dog Sauce Co. as of the end of March, ending its attempt to take control of the sauce maker, sources close to the matter said Friday.
The U.S. hedge fund pulled out of the takeover of the Japanese company probably as it had judged that Bull-Dog shares have less of a chance of rising in the future as the Worcester sauce maker’s financial state had deteriorated after it bought back stock warrants, issued as part of the takeover defense, from the fund for some 2 billion yen, the sources said.
They said the name of Steel Partners was no longer on the list of Bull-Dog shareholders as of March 31.
According to the sources and a series of mandatory shareholding reports by Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore) L.P. to the Finance Ministry’s Kanto Local Finance Bureau, the fund started selling Bull-Dog shares around October last year after its public tender offer for the sauce maker failed in August.
The fund, which once held a stake of about 10 percent in Bull-Dog, lowered its stake to 4.40 percent by Nov. 19 and sold the remaining shares in stages by March 31.
The fund launched a hostile tender offer for Bull-Dog last May after gaining a stake of about 10 percent to obtain all of the remaining shares. In response, the sauce maker introduced a “poison pill” takeover defense system after winning support from almost all of its shareholders except Steel Partners at their annual meeting in June.
The bid was foiled in July when Bull-Dog invoked the defense scheme, diluting Steel Partners’ stake to less than 3 percent.
Meanwhile, Steel Partners asked the Supreme Court to issue an injunction in an attempt to block the move, but the top court backed Bull-Dog’s measures in August.
The sources said Steel Partners also sold off its interest in soy sauce maker Kikkoman Corp. as of March 31.
It is believed that the fund, which owned a stake of more than 5 percent in Kikkoman in January 2007, sold it after Kikkoman shares reached the fund’s target price on the back of the company’s upbeat earnings.
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