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Fuji TV chief says not selling Livedoor shares may be one option+
[January 25, 2006]

Fuji TV chief says not selling Livedoor shares may be one option+


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, Jan. 25_(Kyodo) _ Fuji Television Network Inc. Chairman Hisashi Hieda said Wednesday there is a possibility that the broadcaster may continue to maintain its shareholdings in scandal-hit Livedoor Co.



Hieda told reporters that holding Livedoor shares is regarded as part of Fuji TV's investment. "It is possible to keep the shares stably or it may go the other way around," he said.

Fuji TV is now free to sell the shares as its deal with Livedoor not to sell them to a third party without the Internet firm's consent until the end of September 2007 became void Tuesday due to Livedoor President Takafumi Horie's resignation from the post the same day.


Fuji TV, the second-biggest shareholder of Livedoor, will decide what to do with the shares after studying the company's future business policies and the new management, which was set up Tuesday following Horie and other executives' arrests Monday over alleged securities exchange law violations.

Last year, Fuji TV spent 44 billion yen to purchase 133.74 million Livedoor shares -- 12.75 percent of the total outstanding -- to settle the takeover battle between the two firms for control of radio firm Nippon Broadcasting System Inc.

Nippon Broadcasting and Fuji TV belong to the Fujisankei Communications Group, one of Japan's biggest media conglomerates.

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