Friday April 18, 06:37 AM
Japan's Bull-Dog Sauce says Steel Partners sells shares
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Bull (Paris: FR0010266601 - news) -Dog Sauce Co. said Friday that the US investment fund Steel Partners had sold its entire stake in the iconic condiment maker after its defeat in a high-profile takeover battle.
Steel Partners sold its remaining shares in the company as of March 31 and removed its name from the list of shareholders, a Bull-Dog spokeswoman said.
The fund was at the centre of a heated takeover tussle last year with Bull-Dog that set off a legal battle that went all the way to the country's top court.
The sauce maker became the first Japanese company to carry out threats of a "poison pill" defence, a tactic to block takeover bids by issuing new shares to dilute the stake of a bidder.
A spokesman for Steel Partners declined to comment on the fund's decision to sell its shares in Bull-Dog.
The US fund also sold all its shares in soy sauce maker Kikkoman (Berlin: KIK.BE - news) as of the end of March, reaping 2.0 billion yen (19.6 million dollars) in profit, the Nikkei (news) business daily reported, quoting sources.
Kikkoman declined to disclose details on specific shareholders.
After a series of failed takeover bids including for the two sauce makers and for noodle maker Myojo foods in 2006, Steel Partners has said it wants to avoid a hostile takeover bid for another target, Sapporo Holdings (Munich: 851177 - news) .
Unsolicited takeover bids are still rare in Japan where they are seen as an example of a more ruthless form of Western capitalism.
Last month, Steel Partners unveiled a revised takeover offer for the brewer that would limit its stake to one-third, after Sapporo rebutted its original bid.
The Tokyo High Court last year branded Steel Partners an "abusive acquirer" in a major setback to the fund and its head Warren Lichtenstein, who has said he wants to "educate" Japanese managers.
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