Shares in airbag maker Takata dive on bankruptcy fears

[TOKYO] Takata shares dived 16.5 per cent Monday in response to news reports that the troubled airbag maker planns to file for bankruptcy and sell its assets to a US company.

The stock finished the day at 404 yen (S$5.03), tumbling by its maximum daily loss limit on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei business daily has said the company, with liabilities exceeding one trillion yen , would make a formal decision about the bankruptcy filing at a board meeting this month.

Takata, at the centre of the global auto industry's biggest-ever safety recall, was suspended from trading on Friday pending a response to the Nikkei story and other similar reports.

Late Friday Takata said that no decision had been made but "all options" were on the table.

American autoparts maker Key Safety Systems, owned by China's Ningbo Joyson Electronic, will take over the firm's operations, the Nikkei's report on Friday said.

The board of Takata's US-based unit TK Holdings is expected to approve a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy there this month, it added.

The shares went untraded for most of Monday as the number of sell orders swamped buy orders.

AFP