AVI submits shareholder proposals to NS Solutions

RNS Number : 8197L

AVI Japan Opportunity Trust PLC

17 May 2022

 

May 17, 2022

Asset Value Investors (AVI) submits shareholder proposals to NS Solutions, a subsidiary of Nippon Steel

London, May 17, 2022 - Asset Value Investors ("AVI") today launches a public campaign on the submission of its shareholder proposals to NS Solutions (TYO 2327, "NSSOL"), a subsidiary of Nippon Steel Corporation (TYO 5401, "Nippon Steel").

AVI owns 1.2% of voting rights of NSSOL. Having first invested in March 2022, the team has now concluded that a continued approach of constructive private dialogue has no prospects of success.

A detailed presentation has been published on AVI's dedicated website - www.takingNSSOLtothenextlevel.com

AVI identified the following issues:  

-  Due to the parent-subsidiary listing relationship between NSSOL and Nippon Steel, the standards of governance and treatment of minority shareholders expected of a Prime Market listed company have not been achieved.

-  Two former Nippon Steel executives with no experience in the IT services industry have been appointed as internal directors of NSSOL in the last two years.

-  NSSOL has deposited 90.2 billion yen of cash with its parent company Nippon Steel at an interest rate of about 0.2%.

-  NSSOL holds 67.8 billion yen in shares of its clients, mainly Recruit HD.

-  There is potential disregard for employee welfare issues.

-  The parent company holds a prohibitively high 63.4% of the shares, preventing NSSOL from conducting share buybacks from general shareholders as a further reduction in the free float could violate the criteria for prime listing.

Against this backdrop, NSSOL trades at a significant undervaluation to its fair enterprise value. Specifically, the company's EV/LTM EBIT is 6.8x after factoring in the after-tax value of investment securities, which is close to half the average 13.3x for competitors in the industry. Despite the low valuation and deteriorating capital efficiency, the current Board of Directors have taken little action to address AVI's concerns, failing to maximise corporate value for shareholders.

Joe Bauernfreund, CEO of AVI, comments : "NS Solutions must take steps to achieve the highest standards of corporate governance and capital discipline that a Prime Market publicly traded company should uphold, and to address its undervaluation.

"As the controlling shareholder, Nippon Steel has an obligation to ensure that NS Solutions is managed for the benefit of all stakeholders. Nippon Steel has the power to hold NSSOL's board to account and call on NSSOL to address poor employee welfare and its discounted valuation."

AVI, as a leading minority investor with a fiduciary duty to hold the companies in which it invests to the highest standards, suggests the following four urgent measures to the Board of Directors of NSSOL to improve employee welfare, governance, and capital efficiency:

(1)  Promptly initiate discussions with the parent company to reduce its percentage of voting rights to about 60% through a share buy-back of 7,834,000 shares from the parent company Nippon Steel via a discounted TOB or other arrangements within one year from the conclusion of the 42^nd Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders in June 2022.

(2)  Establish a policy to reduce strategic shareholdings, and unless due to unavoidable circumstances, sell or dispose of all strategic shareholding at fair value by 1^st March 2023.

(3)  Establish a policy not to make deposits to the parent company, its subsidiary, or affiliated companies, and to immediately recover the current deposits.

(4)  Establish a special investigative committee ("Special Investigation Committee") for the purpose of examining compliance-related matters such as sexual harassment and power harassment at the Company. The Special Investigation Committee shall be composed of members qualified as lawyers who are independent from both the Company and the Directors of the Company. The Special Investigation Committee must disclose the results of its investigation by way of a report, including remedial measures by 1^st September 2022.

Despite regular private dialogue, the Board of Directors of NSSOL have ignored AVI's recommendations and failed to put forward remedial solutions.

-  ENDS  -

Notes to editors 

Full details can be found on AVI's dedicated website  www.takingNSSOLtothenextlevel.com

AVI is a London-based investment management company that has been investing in Japanese equities for more than 20 years. AVI was established in 1985 and has been investing in the equity markets for more than 35 years. AVI's investment team is committed to contributing to sustainable improvements in corporate value by engaging with the management teams of its portfolio companies, with approximately ¥78bn invested in Japanese equities.

Contact:

Kaz Sakai

[e-mail]

Disclaimer:

In respect of content and information set out in the English language version and the Japanese language version of this press release, in the event of any inconsistency between them, the Japanese language version shall prevail unless otherwise expressly indicated.

 

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