Board of Directors Accepts Acquisition Proposal from Toyota
Toyota Industries, a core company of the Toyota Group and a publicly listed firm, will be converted into a privately held company.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on June 3, the board of directors of Toyota Industries has decided to accept an acquisition proposal from Toyota Motor. As early as December, Toyota plans to conduct a public tender offer to take Toyota Industries private. Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota Motor, and Toyota Real Estate are expected to participate in the acquisition.
On this day, Toyota Industries' closing share price was 18,400 yen (approximately 178,000 won), but Toyota plans to purchase shares at 16,300 yen per share (approximately 157,000 won), making it uncertain whether shareholders will accept the offer.
Toyota Industries was founded by Sakichi Toyoda, the great-grandfather of Chairman Akio Toyoda and the founder of Toyota. The current Toyota Motor Corporation was established when the "automobile division" of Toyota Industries was separated.
Toyota Industries' main product is forklifts, and it also manufactures bodies for Toyota's sport utility vehicle (SUV) "RAV4." In addition, it is jointly developing solid-state batteries with Toyota to improve the performance of electric vehicles (EVs).
For the fiscal year 2024 (April 2024 to March 2025), Toyota Industries reported sales of 4.0849 trillion yen (approximately 39.4 trillion won), with a market capitalization of about 6 trillion yen (approximately 58 trillion won).
Industry insiders believe that, as the automotive industry faces a period of transformation such as the shift to electric vehicles, Toyota will be able to accelerate investments and other initiatives by taking Toyota Industries private.
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