U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners Japan denied Wednesday that its proposal to take over Sapporo Breweries Ltd., the nation's third-largest brewery, would seriously harm shareholder interests, as claimed last week by a Sapporo Holdings Ltd. panel.
In a response sent Wednesday to Sapporo, Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund, the U.S. fund's Japan unit, said the panel's opposition to the acquisition proposal is "not supported by facts."
"We believe that the biggest risk of damage to the company's corporate value and harm to the common interests of its shareholders and stakeholders stems not from SPJSF or the proposed acquisition, but from the continued path the committee and board is currently following, as opposed to allowing shareholders to decide for themselves whether to accept or reject SPJSF's offer," Warren Lichtenstein, managing partner of Steel Partners Japan, wrote in the letter.
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