Third Point Increases Sony Ownership
As a means to pressure Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) to spin out its entertainment division, Third Point, which is controlled by activist investor David Loeb, said it has upped its ownership in the Japanese company to 6%.
According to The Guardian:
New York-based hedge fund Third Point said it has raised its stake in Sony and urged the Japanese company to create an independent board to run a partially spun-off entertainment arm with Sony's chief executive, Kazuo Hirai, as its chairman.
Third Point, a $13bn (£8.3bn) hedge fund founded by billionaire investor Daniel Loeb, last month proposed that the struggling electronics maker conduct an initial public offering for its profitable music and movie business. It said such a move could boost Sony's share price by as much as 60%.
In a second letter to Hirai on Tuesday, in which he again offered to put a Third Point representative on Sony's board, Loeb added to his proposal by suggesting that Sony adopt "a semi-independent governance structure". Loeb argues that the electronics maker has failed to find the synergies that the shift into entertainment had promised when it bought Columbia Pictures 24 years ago.
CNNMoney posted the entire text of the letter.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: SNE
