EQT raises Kakaku.com offer price to 3,450 yen, topping rival bid

TOKYO, July 17 : European fund EQT on Friday raised its offer for Japanese website operator Kakaku.com to 3,450 yen ($21.25) per share from 3,000 yen, topping a rival offer from a consortium comprising SoftBank subsidiary LY Corp and Bain Capital.

The new price values Kakaku.com at about 682 billion yen ($4.20 billion) and compares with the LY-Bain offer of 3,384 yen. EQT also extended its tender offer period to August 3 from July 22, a regulatory filing showed.

Activist investor Oasis, which holds 19.52 per cent of Kakaku.com's shares, had previously agreed to tender its shares to LY and Bain, which have yet to formally launch their bid, contingent on gaining the support of Kakaku.com's management.

LY and Bain have said their offer would increase to 3,500 yen a share if Kakaku.com's major shareholder KDDI Corp agreed to support the bid.

Corporate Japan is undergoing a wave of mergers and acquisitions as changing corporate governance norms encourage firms to delist. Competition among buyers is intensifying as more foreign private equity funds enter the Japanese market.

($1 = 162.3300 yen)