Outspoken financier Yoshiaki Murakami said Monday his fund has reached a court-mediated settlement with Tokyo Style Co. after the apparel firm's president, Yoshio Takano, agreed to pay 100 million yen in compensation to his own firm for inflicting damages as a result of investments that turned sour.
The settlement capped almost four years of wrangling between the firm and Murakami, who had been demanding that Tokyo Style disgorge underutilized assets to investors and to install a more transparent corporate governance system.
Murakami's M&A Consulting Inc. filed a representative action suit against the company in August 2003, seeking 3.1 billion yen in damages for losses that Tokyo Style incurred after Takano approved the purchases of bonds without the consent of the company's board.
In Monday's settlement, Takano agreed to pay 100 million yen in damages to Tokyo Style.
The apparel firm released a statement saying it agreed to the settlement because it did not want to continue with the protracted court process.
"(This settlement) will be a memorable event for the rest of my life," Murakami told a news conference.
Fuminori Nakashima, a lawyer for the fund, said the settlement holds great significance because it is most unusual for those who file representative action suits to win damages from management when criminal conduct is not involved.
But neither Murakami nor his fund will gain any money from the settlement, and he said he has incurred losses on his investment in Tokyo Style, given the time and money spent on the lawsuit and other battles.
For Murakami, now in the spotlight as a major shareholder in such companies as Hanshin Electric Railway Co. and Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., Tokyo Style was one of the first investments that propelled him to fame as a demanding and outspoken shareholder.