Toyota Industries 4.7 trillion yen buyout plan faces antitrust delays

Toyota Motor chairman Akio Toyoda’s proposal to buy out Toyota Industries for 4.7 trillion yen (S$40.5 billion) has been delayed because the approval process under antitrust laws in various countries is taking longer than anticipated.

The takeover bid had been scheduled to start in December, but now is not likely to happen until at least February 2026, Toyota Industries said in a statement on Monday (Oct 6). The take-private deal, unveiled in June, involves a real estate unit owned by group companies making a tender offer for the shares of Toyota Industries.

The regulatory hurdle could be the first of many as Toyoda attempts to tighten his family’s grip on Japan’s biggest business group in a deal that would rank among the biggest buyouts on record anywhere. Some investors had pushed back on the proposal because they said it significantly undervalues the business.

Under the plan, the real estate firm would make a tender offer of 16,300 yen for each share of Toyota Industries, which represented an 11 per cent discount to the company’s closing price on the day it was officially announced. The supplier of textile looms, forklifts and vehicle parts is the original business that eventually gave birth to Toyota Motor – now the world’s biggest carmaker.

Clearances have only been obtained in Australia, Canada, Israel and South Africa, according to Toyota Industries. “The remaining clearances are still pending, and the completion of all procedures is now expected to be in mid-January 2026 or later,” the company said in a statement.

In theory, the buyout would resolve a parent-child structure that’s often criticised in Japan. It could also satisfy the Japanese government’s campaign to push big corporations to unwind a deep Web of cross-held shares that have led to fortuitous business ties. On the other hand, it might consolidate Toyota’s influence over the company founded by his grandfather.

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The country’s top banks – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group – will together lend 2.8 trillion yen to the acquisition company to support the buyout.

Toyoda will personally invest 1 billion yen into a holding company that will be established to privatise Toyota industries. That entity will mostly be owned by Toyota Fudosan, an unlisted real estate firm that counts Toyoda as its chairman and effectively serves as the Toyoda family’s investment vehicle. BLOOMBERG