Investment firm EQT AB has increased its tender offer for Kakaku.com Inc. to ¥3,570 ($22.40) per share, up from its previous offer of ¥3,450. This move intensifies the bidding war for the Japanese price comparison site against competing bids from Bain Capital and LY Corp. EQT's latest offer surpasses the ¥3,520 per share bid from Bain and LY, a SoftBank Corp. affiliate.
The consortium, comprising EQT and Digital Garage, views this amended offer as a strategic step to provide Kakaku.com shareholders with compelling value and greater certainty, while also allowing the company to focus on its long-term development. The tender offer period has also been extended to August 27, 2026. EQT emphasized that it has already secured all necessary regulatory clearances, underscoring the transaction's certainty for Kakaku.com and its shareholders.
The ¥3,570 per share offer represents a significant premium over Kakaku.com's unaffected share price, showing a 68.32% premium over the ¥2,121 price prior to speculative media reports. It also offers premiums of 69.76% over the one-month simple average closing price, 83.17% over the three-month simple average, and 64.82% over the six-month simple average closing price. Tetsuro Onitsuka, Partner in EQT Private Capital Asia, stated that EQT is well-positioned to support Kakaku.com's growth, leveraging its experience in digital marketplaces and its presence in Japan to invest in the company's brands, data assets, and platforms.
