Shinsei criticized SBI's plan to effectively control the management without acquiring a majority stake, warning that it would be "detrimental" to the remaining shareholders because their investments may be used for the benefit of SBI.
The standoff between the firms has escalated since SBI launched an unsolicited tender offer in early September in an attempt to raise its stake from 20 percent to 48 percent.
Shinsei is planning to seek approval for its plan to launch a defense against SBI at an extraordinary meeting on
Despite its rejection of the tender offer, Shinsei set conditions that SBI should meet if the financial group wants a reversal of the bank's decision. But SBI is widely seen as unlikely to satisfy them.
First, Shinsei urged SBI to remove the limit on its share purchase -- a condition the financial group is unlikely to accept as under Japanese law obtaining a majority stake in a bank requires regulatory approval.
Shinsei also called on SBI to raise its offer price, currently at
If these conditions are met by
With the tender offer, SBI is aiming to replace some or all of the current Shinsei management, which has failed to bolster the bank's profitability, and pave the way for the repayment of massive public funds the bank's predecessor received two decades ago.
SBI acquiesced to Shinsei in late September and extended the tender offer period until
Shinsei's planned defense, pending shareholder approval, is to issue new shares to existing shareholders to dilute SBI's holdings.
The online financial group is aspiring to become the fourth Japanese megabank, with its CEO
Following the 1998 collapse of Shinsei's predecessor, the
==Kyodo
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