Elliott agrees to Toyota’s increased $30 billion tender offer for Toyota Industries

TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) – Elliott Investment Management has agreed to tender its shares in forklift maker Toyota Industries after Toyota bumped its take-private bid to 20,600 yen ($132), valuing the offer at $30 billion and ending a months-long tug-of-war over the price.

In a statement on Monday, Elliott said it intended to accept the terms of the increased offer, saying the price represented an “improved outcome” for minority shareholders.

The Japanese automaking group had originally offered 16,300 yen a share for Toyota Industries, known as TICO, a price that drew widespread criticism from minority shareholders, many of whom said it undervalued the company.

Toyota later increased the offer to 18,800 yen, which Elliott and others again rejected as being too low. The tender offer had been set to close on Monday.

The Japanese group said its latest offer price is dependent upon obtaining loan guarantees from its banks. In accepting the offer, Paul Singer’s activist fund is set to end their months-long stand-off.

The increased price values the offer at 4.7 trillion yen ($30 billion).

Toyota said in a filing on Monday that Elliott – which has pushed the group to raise its price – had agreed to tender its shares in Toyota Industries under certain conditions.

($1 = 156.5900 yen)

($1 = 156.7200 yen)

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and David Dolan; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Tom Hogue and Christopher Cushing)