Earlier today Toshiba shareholders voted against the management’s plan to split the company into two parts – infrastructure products and devices.

Shareholders also voted against a proposal by activist shareholder 3D Investment Partners of Singapore to consider other options including a sale of the company to private equity.

The way ahead after the two votes is unclear.

“We are going to consider all options that will improve the value of our company,” said CEO Taro Shimada after the vote.

Before the vote chairman, and former CEO, Satoshi Tsunakawa had said: “”We want to achieve our own vision of becoming, by ourselves, an active contributor to resolving global issues such as climate change, and reforming the company, rather than selling ourselves to a foreign buyout fund and asking them to do it for us.”

The activist shareholders pushing for the buyout plan include Effissimo Capital Management and 3D Investment Partners of Singapore, Farallon Capital Management of San Francisco and Oasis Management of Hong Kong.

Today’s vote is regarded as advisory and not legally binding and only required a majority vote. A binding vote which would require a bigger majority would not be taken until 2023.

The Japan government, which has in the past shown support for Toshiba’s struggle with the activists, could intervene on grounds of national security because Toshiba’s infrastructure product portfolio includes nuclear power generation

By: DocMemory
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