Hong Kong-based activist investor Oasis Management has increased its equity stake in Japan's Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, rocked by a high-profile health hazard scandal over its supplements containing beni kōji red fermented rice, according to a share transaction report.
In the report filed with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau on Wednesday, Oasis Management said its stake in Kobayashi Pharmaceutical climbed to 10.1% from 7.5%, coming close to the ownership ratio of the Japanese company's largest shareholder.
Oasis Management has acquired Kobayashi Pharmaceutical shares in stages. On the supplement health scare scandal, the Hong Kong fund raised questions about Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's management system, calling on the Japanese firm to hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting for the appointment of a new outside board member and file a lawsuit against former Chairman Kazumasa Kobayashi and others over the scandal.
As of the end of June, former President Akihiro Kobayashi was Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's largest shareholder with a stake of just over 12%, according to the company's semiannual report.
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