Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. said Friday its effective equity stake in Television Osaka Inc. exceeds the regulatory limit of 20 percent by 0.4 percent.
The publisher of the leading Japanese business daily said it will sell a 0.5 percent stake held by a subsidiary in order to meet the regulatory limit imposed by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
Nihon Keizai, which had earlier put its effective stake in the broadcaster at 19.9 percent, said it has recently found that its TV program production unit, Nikkei Visual Images Inc., bought the 0.5 percent stake from a failed financial institution in November 2000.
The effective stake includes shares held in the names of third parties under the control of Nihon Keizai.
The ministry's regulations limit the shareholdings of TV and radio broadcasters and newspaper publishers to maintain diversity of expression.