The bidding war for Kakaku.com, which operates price comparison sites, restaurant services and job search platforms, has been ongoing since spring. In May, EQT announced an initial offer of 3,000 yen per share with the aim of taking the company private. After a competing bid of 3,384 yen was presented in early July, the EQT consortium chose to raise its offer to 3,450 yen per share on July 17.
In connection with the increase in mid-July, Tetsuro Onitsuka, partner in EQT's Asian private equity team, highlighted the benefits of their offer.
Our proposal provides Kakaku.com's shareholders with an attractive combination of value, certainty and timing. By combining EQT's global digital and AI expertise with Kakaku's strong brands and data assets, we believe Kakaku can accelerate platform development and strive for long-term value creation,” said Tetsuro Onitsuka.
Now that the updated bid has recently been trumped, it remains to be seen how EQT and the consortium will act during the extended acceptance period until mid-August. According to Bloomberg reports, talks are underway with Kakaku to facilitate the completion of the transaction.