Toyota says deal to take key supplier private delayed at least until February

TOKYO (Reuters) -Toyota Motor said on Monday that its tender offer for forklift maker Toyota Industries was now likely to begin in February or later, pushing back a launch that had been expected in early December. The Toyota group said in June that Toyota Industries would be taken private through a holding company into which Toyota Motor, Toyota Fudosan and Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda would invest, and that the tender offer would start after receiving regulatory approval. The value of the tender offer for the shares of Toyota Industries is expected to be around 3.7 trillion yen ($24.65 billion) based on an acquisition price of 16,300 yen a share. The deal marks a landmark unwinding of cross-shareholdings that is expected to boost the influence of the founding Toyoda family. Japanese businesses have come under pressure in recent years to reduce such shareholdings amid a government push for corporate governance. The planned buyout has drawn criticism from some international investors, who have argued that the offer undervalues Toyota Industries' real estate assets. A Toyota spokesperson said the tender offer reflected the intrinsic value of Toyota Industries, noting it represented a 23% premium to the share price before the initial reports of a potential deal. "While it may not satisfy all shareholders, we're confident in both the fairness of the price and the strategic purpose of the transaction," the spokesperson said, adding the deal would create synergies across the group and streamline governance. As part of the deal, Toyota and group firms Denso, Toyota Tsusho and Aisin will sell their stakes in Toyota Industries and acquire their own shares now held by it, with the purchase of Toyota's holdings expected to come to one trillion yen. Founded in 1926 as Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Toyota Industries later spun off its automotive division into what became Toyota Motor. ($1 = 150.1100 yen) (Reporting by Daniel LeussinkEditing by Chang-Ran Kim and Kate Mayberry)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)