Anton Bridge
TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. private equity fund KKR said on Monday it had asked Fuji Soft to take legal action to stop what it said was Bain Capital’s violation of a non-disclosure agreement amid a battle between Bain and KKR for the acquisition of a software manufacturer.
In a letter to Fuji Soft, KKR asked the Japanese company to file an injunction to stop Bain Capital’s “continuing violation of its non-disclosure agreement.”
KKR and Bain are trying to buy Fuji Soft in competing bids worth up to $2 billion.
KKR’s request deepens divisions between two of private equity’s biggest names in their battle for Fuji Soft.
Fuji Soft and Bain declined to comment.
Notably, the contentious fight is playing out publicly in Japan, a market where hostile bids have become more common in recent years and where most takeovers are still made on a friendly basis.
New takeover guidelines introduced by the industry ministry to encourage corporate takeovers have begun to remove the long-standing stigma around unsolicited bids and encourage lenders to finance such bids.
Fuji Soft’s board of directors argued in favor of KKR’s lower bid and demanded that Bain destroy confidential information collected during due diligence, but Bain continued its now hostile offer, saying there was no reason to reject the higher offer.
Bain said Fuji Soft was ignoring shareholder interests and wanted to continue to use the information to make its tender offer. Fuji Soft’s founding family said it supported Bain’s proposal.