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Murakami Fund raises stake in Matsuzakaya to 7.52%+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 14_(Kyodo) _ The Murakami Fund has increased its stake in Matsuzakaya Co. to 7.52 percent, remaining the largest shareholder in the department store operator, a report the investment fund submitted to the Finance Ministry showed Friday. The fund, led by former bureaucrat Yoshiaki Murakami known for advocating shareholder rights, held a 5.46 percent stake at the end of December. The second-largest shareholder Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. owned 5.31 percent as of the end of February. Murakami has urged Matsuzakaya to increase the corporate value by taking such measures as management buyout and employee buyout. The department store operator announced its plan Wednesday to shift to a holding company system in order to more efficiently supervise its businesses and group firms, apparently in a move to fend off onslaughts from the fund. The fund also raised its stake in electronic parts maker New Japan Radio Co. to 7.31 percent from 5.48 percent, while newly becoming the largest shareholder in GMO Internet Inc., a Net business provider, according to the report that showed its stock transactions between January and March. The investment fund, which had upset the management of Hanshin Electric Railway Co. last year when it quietly became its largest shareholder, did not report any new purchase of stocks in the railway firm this time, and is believed to have maintained the same approximately 45.73 percent it possessed as of late February. |