Mammoth eats mastodon! Fuji TV to buy Nippon Broadcasting

[Taro Toporific]

Fuji TV Offers $1.7 Bln to Buy Nippon Broadcasting
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Fuji Television Network Inc., Japan's biggest broadcaster, offered 170.5 billion yen ($1.7 billion) to buy Nippon Broadcasting System Inc ...

[Mulboyne]

It's a piece of long-overdue housekeeping. Things turned interesting at NBS when M&A Consulting statred building a stake. Murakami, who owns M&A Consulting, is a well-known corporate governance activist. Then Daiwa Securities were reported to hold an 8% stake in NBS. It turns out that they had been buying on behalf of The Shikauchi family, founders of the Fuji-Sankei group. Daiwa is underwriter to both Fuji TV and NBS.

[Taro Toporific]

I....Things turned interesting at NBS when M&A Consulting statred building a stake.... Then Daiwa Securities were reported to hold an 8% stake in NBS. It turns out that they had been buying on behalf of The Shikauchi family, founders of the Fuji-Sankei group. Daiwa is underwriter to both Fuji TV and NBS.

Gee, all I can say to that is INCEST!
OMGWTFBBQ!
What are they thinking? Where the hell are the government regulators?
Japanese TV already has too few networks and not enough programing to project the Japanese viewpoint-puke-lifestyle. If Fuji TV buys Nippon TV, television here is gonna get even more boring. Arrrrg.

[Mulboyne]

Aha! I see where you are...
NBS isnt NTV
Nippon Broadcasting is the name of the company which owns the Fuji Sankei group radio station assets. It was actually listed before Fuji TV.
Damn romanization...

[Taro Toporific]

Aha! I see where you are...
NBS isnt NTV
Nippon Broadcasting is the name of the company which owns the Fuji Sankei group radio station assets. It was actually listed before Fuji TV.
Damn romanization...

So ka!

Just as bad if not worse is Time magazine's continuing rumors of the CNN-CBS merger (see last paragraph)moving ahead.

[Mulboyne]

This just got a lot more interesting...
MDN: Livedoor increases stake in Nippon Broadcasting System to 35 percent
The Livedoor group has acquired additional shares in the Tokyo-based Nippon Broadcasting System Corp., increasing its stake to 35 percent, Livedoor officials said Tuesday. The move by the ambitious Internet service provider is poised to set up a head-on clash over control of the radio station with Fuji Television Network Inc. (Fuji TV), which had been trying to acquire all of Nippon Broadcasting System's shares

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Yahoo: Livedoor mulls measures against Fuji TV in battle over control
Livedoor Co. is mulling raising its stake in Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. in a bid to thwart Fuji Television Network Inc.'s attempt to neutralize Livedoor's influence on the TV network. Livedoor chief executive Takafumi Horie, appearing on two television talks shows Sunday, said his company is considering having the Tokyo-based radio broadcaster issue new shares in order to dilute Fuji's stake...Fuji said Friday it is lowering the stake target for the takeover bid to over 25 percent, making it easier to complete the bid successfully. Under Commercial Code provisions, if Fuji attains 25 percent of Nippon Broadcasting, the radio station will not be able to exercise its voting rights in its cross-shareholding partner, Fuji.

Horie said even if Fuji acquires over 25 percent, "if Nippon Broadcasting issues new shares even by one percent (of the balance of existing shares), the denominator will expand and Fuji's share will drop below 25 percent." The Livedoor chief executive indicated that it is possible for his company to get involved in Fuji's management by further buying into Nippon Broadcasting enough to turn it into a subsidiary. Horie also suggested that he himself would like to join the management of Nippon Broadcasting.

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Japan Today: Fuji TV removes Livedoor's Horie from quiz show as battle escalates
Fuji Television Network Inc said Wednesday it has dropped Livedoor Co President Takafumi Horie as a regular participant in its weekly quiz show, citing the ongoing battle between the two companies to take control of a radio broadcaster. "As the two companies are currently fighting over a corporate management, we decided it is not appropriate for a party involved to appear on an entertainment program," a Fuji TV spokesman said. Fuji TV canceled the broadcast last Sunday of its "Heisei Education 2005 Prep School" program, in which Horie has regularly appeared since its launch in January.