BlackRock builds 5% stake in Toshiba, becomes third largest shareholder

TOKYO (Reuters) - BlackRock Inc has built a 5.21% stake in Toshiba Corp, according to a regulatory filing by the U.S. asset manager, after the Japanese industrial conglomerate returned to the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s top section.

It becomes Toshiba’s third-largest shareholder behind hedge funds Effissimo Capital Management and Farallon Capital Management, a source familiar with the matter said.

Toshiba, embroiled in a long-running row with activist shareholders including Singapore-based Effissimo, has said the return to the TSE’s first section would lure buying from investors in stock indexes. Toshiba rejoined Japan’s Topix index of top tier shares on Feb 25.

The Japanese company was relegated to the second section in 2017 after massive writedowns at its U.S. nuclear power business caused liabilities to exceed assets - a condition for automatic demotion.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; editing by John Stonestreet and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

FILE PHOTO: A sign for BlackRock Inc hangs above their building in New York U.S., July 16, 2018

FILE PHOTO: Reporters raise their hands for a question during a Toshiba news conference at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato