Japanese Companies Face Record Number of Shareholder Proposals

Tokyo, June 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese companies are facing a record number of shareholder proposals from so-called activist investors ahead of their annual shareholder meetings later this month.

As of Friday, institutional investors had submitted a total of 139 proposals to 51 Japanese companies, up from 137 the previous year, according to Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. Of them, proposals related to executive appointments numbered 19, up from 14.

"There is a tendency to propose the appointment of outside directors to companies that may go private," said Hiroo Shimoda, a senior official at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust.

Some institutional investors demanded the removal of top executives. Hong Kong investment fund Oasis Management Co. sought the removal of Kyocera Corp. Chairman Goro Yamaguchi over the company's poor earnings.

British investment fund Asset Value Investors Ltd. proposed that Rohto Pharmaceutical Co. dismiss Chairman Kunio Yamada, who is from the company's founding family.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]