Poison Pill Defense Rises Sharply in Japan

Management and directors in Japan continue to barricade themselves in the boardroom with a variety of defenses, according to a report this morning in the weekly Global Proxy Watch newsletter.

Some 21 percent of the 450 companies rated by GovernanceMetrics International employ some for of the pill, up sharply from 5 percent last year.

Cross shareholding is on the rebound, too, surpassing 12 percent of market capitalization this year after falling for more than a decade, according to Nomura Holdings.

Driving corporate fears, GPW reports, is growing shareholder activism that started last year. RiskMetrics points to several hostile takeover attempts, though none have succeeded. They involved Tokyo Broadcasting System, Nippon Broadcasting System, Myojo Foods, and Sapporo Holdings.

GPW concludes that more proposals on pills are to come.