On November 19, 2025, one of our key portfolio companies, Tamai Steamship Co., Ltd. (“the Company”), disclosed “Notice Concerning Discontinuation of Response Policy to Large-scale Purchase etc. of Company Share Certificates etc. in Preparation for Large-scale Purchase etc. of Company Share Certificates etc. by Mr. Sun You Ning.” In this announcement, the Company stated that it had decided to discontinue its takeover response policy.
We welcome the decision as the policy suffered from several serious shortcomings, including (i) endorsing the current management team despite their limited track record in improving corporate value, and (ii) leaving the ultimate decision to the board of directors.
At the same time, we remain concerned that the Company has focused almost exclusively on obtaining a pledge from Mr. Sun not to further increase his shareholding, while still failing to disclose any substantive measures to improve corporate value.
In our letter of request, we called on the Company to implement the following measures to enhance corporate value.
・Disclosure of an Over-The-Cycle ROE target and a fundamental review of capital policy, including a DOE target of 8%
・Establishment of a “Corporate Value Enhancement Committee” (tentative) to re-examine the purpose of listing
We strongly urge the Company to take these requests seriously and act on them—without delay—by disclosing concrete, value-enhancing measures for all shareholders. Should the Company continue to avoid meaningful action, we will not hesitate to escalate our engagement to ensure corporate value is properly realized.
(Past Posts)
4/Nov/2025 – Tamai Steamship: Discussion with President Kiyozaki and Subsequent Large Shareholding Related Report
29/Sep/2025 – Large Shareholding Report and Letter to Tamai Steamship
This post does not solicit applications for or recommend the sale of certain securities, or provide advice on investment, legal, tax, accounting, etc. In respect of information that has been prepared by Hibiki Path Advisors (and not otherwise attributed to any other party) and which appear in the English language version of this post, in the event of any inconsistency between the English language version and the Japanese language version of this post, the meaning of the Japanese language version shall prevail unless otherwise expressly indicated engagement amongst all shareholders.