Toshiba Corp.'s plan to raise more money may bring in vocal investors more willing to take an active role in the electronics maker's affairs.
David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, Daniel Loeb's Third Point and other investors have agreed to buy ¥600 billion ($5.4 billion) worth of newly issued shares, an extra cushion of cash on top of the already-agreed ¥2 trillion sale of the Tokyo-based company's chips business to a group led by Bain Capital.
While that deal is still on track, there were risks to its completion by the end of March, Toshiba's deadline to reverse negative shareholder equity and avoid being delisted. Now, the tradeoff is that a total of about 60 funds, including Effissimo Capital Management Pte, will now become shareholders controlling a bigger stake in Toshiba. The sale of 2.28 billion new shares will represent about a third of the company after they are issued, giving them a platform to push for changes. That could lead to more parts of the company being sold off, or deeper job cuts, according to Mitsushige Akino, an executive officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co.
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