KKR launches 558.4 billion yen tender offer for Japan’s Fuji Soft

US PRIVATE equity firm KKR will launch a tender offer for Japan’s Fuji Soft, the companies said on Thursday (Aug 8), in a 558.4 billion yen (S$5.1 billion) deal to take the software developer private.

KKR will offer 8,800 yen for shares in Fuji Soft, the companies said in separate statements. Fuji Soft would be delisted if the tender offer is successful, it said.

Fuji Soft’s shares closed at just above the offer price at 8,890 yen on Thursday, after the shares surged following a report by the Nikkei business daily about the buyout.

The deal comes as Fuji Soft’s management has been at odds with some of its major shareholders, including Singapore-based fund 3D Investment Partners.

In March, 3D, Fuji Soft’s top shareholder with a stake of some 21 per cent, proposed that the company appoint an outside auditor to ensure it fairly review multiple takeover proposals it had received from global private equity firms. REUTERS