Hedge fund Oasis wants 144-year-old Japanese firm to reinvent itself

Hong Kong

KATAKURA Industries Co, a Japanese company founded more than a century ago, is no stranger to reinvention. Once a silk producer, it has diversified into making underwear, manufacturing fire engines, operating shopping malls and even bee-keeping.

Now, activist hedge fund Oasis Management Co is pushing Katakura to reinvent itself yet again - this time by ditching businesses that don't meet certain profit targets. The Hong Kong-based fund, which owns a 3 per cent stake in Katakura, says the diversity of ventures isn't sustainable and has put forward three proposals aimed at improving profitability at Thursday's shareholder meeting in Tokyo.