The scandal-tainted Seibu business group needs to consider pulling the plug on money-losing operations in Hawaii and North America, the chairman of an advisory panel to the group said Friday.
Hotel and ski resort operations undertaken by the Seibu group in Canada and Alaska are "in a substantially difficult situation," as are the hotel business and realty sales operations in Hawaii, Ken Moroi told a news conference after the panel met to discuss how to reorganize the group.
The Seibu business group, led by Seibu Railway Co., has been hit hard by a scandal over the railroad operator's long-running practice of underreporting the ratio of stakes held by its unlisted parent, Kokudo Corp., and other major shareholders so as to remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Seibu Railway will be delisted from the TSE on Dec. 17, but hopes to get listed on the Jasdaq stock market by the end of the current fiscal year.
But during the panel meeting a Nomura Securities Co. official said it would be difficult for Seibu Railway to get listed on the Jasdaq market because the company will have to carry out a great deal of work, including establishing a legal compliance system.