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Toshiba, a Japanese multinational company, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, went through a lot of problems as it faced many scandals in recent years. Its leaders were also changed, but it has yet to fully recover.
In an effort to revive the company, a plan to break up Toshiba into two or three companies has been proposed. And this week, it was reported that the shareholders rejected the suggestion, and the activists' call for privatization was given a thumbs down too, as per Reuters.
With this result, it was reported that the current Toshiba management vowed to push for reforms. The proposal presented by the management was to divide the company into two divisions while the activist shareholders want it to be privatized. But in the end, both bids were rejected by the majority of votes, and this left the future direction of Toshiba uncertain.
It was added that there are also foreign investors who prefer for the embattled conglomerate to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, but the idea was not accepted as well. The management’s suggestions of creating independent companies for Toshiba’s devices unit or auctioning it off have both failed to gain the required 50% of the votes.
The turnout of the voting shows that Toshiba’s scandals involving the management and foreign activist hedge funds are not ending soon. This means that the company will continue to face tough times with lots of uncertainties with regard to its future.
The company said it will call another board meeting and will announce the direction of Toshiba. Its chief executive officer, Taro Shimada, said they would consider all options that will help improve the value of the firm.
Finally, Nikkei Asia reported that Toshiba accepted the outcome of the meeting. "Toshiba accepts the opinion of the shareholders expressed at the EGM and will make best efforts to build trust with shareholders and reconsider its strategic options to enhance corporate value continuously," it said in a statement.
The extraordinary general meeting (EGM) was said to have lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes. At least 189 investors were present, and they are mostly former employees and solo investors. Toshiba’s total number of shareholders is said to be 228,586.
