TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese components maker Minebea Mitsumi has decided to raise its tender offer price for thermistor maker Shibaura Electronics to 6,200 yen ($42.31) from 5,500 yen ($37.53), the companies said on Thursday.
The new price matches the tender offer price presented by Taiwanese components supplier Yageo in its unsolicited bid to acquire Shibaura Electronics.
Minebea said the decision to match the price with Yageo’s would give shareholders an opportunity to tender as the prolonged security review is clouding the prospects of Yageo’s offer.
The bidding battle has become a test of Japan’s openness to unsolicited takeovers. Stigma around such offers has eased recently, yet unsolicited bids from foreign firms remain rare.
After Yageo’s overture in February, Shibaura Electronics tapped Minebea Mitsumi as a white knight and called on it to submit a competing bid.
Both Minebea Mitsumi and Yageo extended their tender offer period for Shibaura Electronics until August 18.
Shibaura was classified as core to national security, according to a list published by the finance ministry last week. Yageo, the world’s largest maker of chip resistors, is awaiting the outcome of the security review under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.
In a separate statement on Thursday, Yageo said it has agreed with Shibaura to visit each other’s plants in coming weeks.
($1 = 146.5400 yen)
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Makiko YamazakiEditing by Chang-Ran Kim and Tomasz Janowski)
