Activist funds are right: All-Japan deals are looking too cosy

Singapore

ACTIVIST funds are finding fertile terrain in Japan as they identify what may be recurring mispricing of mergers and acquisitions. The hard part will be overcoming a deeply ingrained culture of cosy corporate ties to achieve better terms for minority investors.

Oasis Capital, led by Seth Fischer, has emerged as the largest minority shareholder in PanaHome Corp, a maker of prefabricated housing. The fund is now pushing for improvements to a stock-swap offer that parent Panasonic Corp has made for the 46 per cent of PanaHome that it doesn't already own.