Toshiba on Thursday nominated an executive from mergers and acquisitions consulting firm Houlihan Lokey as chairman and an activist shareholder as an outside director, a board reshuffle that could increase pressure on Toshiba to go private.
Toshiba nominated Akihiro Watanabe, the founder of Japanese M&A advisory firm GCA Corp, which was recently acquired by U.S. investment bank Houlihan Lokey, ahead of its annual shareholder meeting on June 28, Reuters reported .
Toshiba also proposed that Elliott Management portfolio manager Nabeel Bhanji and Farallon Capital Management managing director Eijiro Imai would get board seats in what could be a long-term relationship between Toshiba and its activist shareholders. A turning point in the struggle.
It is reported that Farallon Capital Management is the third largest shareholder of Toshiba, holding more than 6% of the shares. The company said it believed taking Toshiba private would maximize shareholder value . Elliott Management owns less than 5 percent of Toshiba, according to the sources.
Toshiba, which has been plagued by accounting and governance crises since 2015, has been exploring strategic options, including a possible take-private deal, since shareholders voted down a management-backed restructuring plan.
Nominating committee chairman Raymond Zage told a briefing that given the importance of discussing a potential take-private proposal, the nominating committee believes that two of the 13 board representatives are from major shareholders "helpful to all shareholders".
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