Fuji TV to File Damages Suit Against Livedoor
By Kyodo News International, Tokyo
May 26–TOKYO — Fuji Television Network Inc. will file a damages suit against Livedoor Co. to recover a 34.5 billion yen loss on the sale of its Livedoor shares, Fuji TV Chairman Hisashi Hieda said Friday.
Hieda made the remarks at a meeting held to explain the TV broadcaster’s latest earnings results. At a later news conference, Fuji TV President Koichi Murakami reiterated the company’s plan to file a damages suit against Livedoor.
Fuji TV has so far asked Livedoor in writing to compensate the TV broadcaster for the loss, claiming that it acquired the Internet company’s shares based on falsified financial statements and incurred a heavy loss from a sharp decline in the price of the shares.
But with a trial starting Friday afternoon on Livedoor and its former executives indicted on accounting fraud charges, Fuji plans to file a damages suit with a court.
Neither Hieda nor Murakami specified an exact date for filing a damages suit against Livedoor.
“We would like to file a suit while watching developments regarding the trial,” Hieda said. “We will do our best to recover all of the loss.” Fuji bought a 12.74 percent stake in Livedoor to end a battle with the Internet company to gain control over radio broadcaster Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. last year, but the sharp fall in Livedoor shares and the company’s delisting earlier this year prompted Fuji to sell the stake at a loss.
Livedoor share prices have plunged since January when prosecutors searched Livedoor offices over accounting fraud charges.
Fuji sold the Livedoor stake to cable TV broadcaster Usen Corp.’s President Yasuhide Uno in March, incurring the 34.5 billion yen capital loss.
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