Sumitomo Realty seeks $700 million office sale amid Elliott push
Sumitomo Realty, the Japanese developer facing pressure from Elliott Investment Management to boost its value, is seeking to sell a group of office properties in Tokyo for at least ¥100 billion ($700 million), according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The developer has earmarked 19 midsized office buildings for the divestment. It has asked real estate investment firms and agencies to estimate the value of the offices, which it is considering selling separately, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. It is also weighing the sale of eight rental apartment buildings in the city, they said.
Representatives for Sumitomo Realty weren't immediately available for comment.
After taking a stake in Sumitomo Realty, Elliott said this week that the Tokyo-based company should do more to improve shareholder returns and corporate governance. The sale plans mark a shift from its business model of developing properties in-house, holding them for the long term, and earning steady income from tenants, toward a strategy targeting capital gains.
In a rare public letter, Elliott said it would vote against Sumitomo Realty's senior management at an annual shareholder meeting on June 27 if no meaningful progress is made on improving its value. It called on the developer to unwind its cross-shareholdings, increase its shareholder payout ratio to 50% or more and target a return on equity of at least 10%.
Elliott has built up more than a 3% holding in the company, according to the letter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
4 hours ago
- NHK
China shows off homemade fighters at Paris Air Show
China is showcasing its homemade warplanes at one of the world's largest air shows in Paris. Companies and other organizations from China, as well as 47 other countries and territories, are taking part. A total of 76 entities from China are participating this year. That's more than twice the number that took part in the previous show in 2023. They are apparently taking the opportunity to increase China's presence in the weapons export market. Among the aircraft they are exhibiting are the J-10 fighter and the J-35, the country's latest stealth fighter jet. China exports its J-10 fighter to Pakistan. The Pakistani military claims that the aircraft last month shot down French-made Rafale fighters deployed by the Indian military. Chinese media have been touting the alleged incident as a sign of the advancement of the country's military technology. As for China's displays at the air show, a senior official of a development firm was quoted as saying that China's aviation industry has transformed from a follower to a viable competitor. Representatives from the defense industry and others from many nations have been visiting China's displays and asking about the performance of Chinese fighters. A representative from the European aviation industry said China has a big business opportunity in the market and that the country has become a strong rival for them.
Kyodo News
9 hours ago
- Kyodo News
U.S. asked Japan to raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP
KYODO NEWS - 8 minutes ago - 20:15 | All, Japan, World U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has asked Japan to raise its defense spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product, a request that will likely prompt Tokyo to call off a planned high-level meeting with Washington, a Japan-U.S. diplomatic source said Saturday. The request was made recently by Elbridge Colby, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, the Financial Times has reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Colby, a seasoned strategist, had previously pressed Japan to increase its defense spending to 3 percent of its GDP. The increased demand will likely lead Japan to cancel a planned meeting of the countries' foreign and defense chiefs, which was scheduled in Washington before Japan's House of Councillors election, expected on July 20. The meeting would have been the first since Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump took office in October and January, respectively. Kyodo News reported in late May that Japan and the United States were considering holding the so-called two-plus-two security talks in Washington this summer. Japan and the United States had not formally said such talks, as held in July last year in Tokyo, would take place. In 2022, after Trump's first term, Japan decided to double its annual defense budget to 2 percent of GDP by 2027, a dramatic move in postwar security policy under the country's war-renouncing Constitution. But Trump continues to complain that the U.S.-Japan security treaty is one-sided, with his administration apparently planning to ask Tokyo to pay more for American troops based in the Japanese archipelago once bilateral negotiations over his tariffs proceed.
Kyodo News
14 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Japanese restaurants, food companies switching to noodles from rice
KYODO NEWS - 4 hours ago - 11:18 | All, Japan As cost-sensitive consumers are steering clear of rice after a price surge to record highs, restaurant chains and food companies are turning to noodles. Antworks Co., operator of Densetsu no Sutadonya eateries offering pork rice bowls, opened its first ramen noodle restaurant in Tokyo in May and plans another three by next February to diversify its operations. "We have touted our (pork bowl) business as a large portion of our business portfolio but rice prices are now more than three times higher than those several years ago," a spokesperson at the Tokyo-based restaurant chain operator said. A pork rice bowl set meal with miso soup and raw egg is now priced at 890 yen ($6), compared with 630 yen in 2021. The spokesperson said consumers would likely stay away if the price were raised to over 1,000 yen. "The outlook for our business would be more severe if we were just focusing on (pork) bowls," the official said, adding that the cost of a ramen noodle dish is 100 yen to 150 yen cheaper than a pork bowl. Yoshinoya Holdings Co., the parent of major beef bowl restaurant operator Yoshinoya Co., is also strengthening its ramen noodle business, as it views the beef bowl restaurant market in Japan as saturated. Yoshinoya Holdings Executive Vice President Norihiro Ozawa says its ramen noodle business allows the company to "balance" ingredient costs with offerings aside from rice and meat. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, rice prices have doubled from a year earlier and remain around a spike initially triggered by a poor harvest. The average price stood at 4,176 yen per 5 kilograms in the week through June 8, despite releases from the government's rice stockpiles. At supermarkets, consumers are looking for alternatives to rice. According to TableMark Co., sales of its frozen udon noodles grew around 10 percent in value terms in April and May from a year earlier, while sales of Kikkoman Corp.'s packaged udon noodle soup and ingredients rose 10 percent in the three months through May from the same period last year. Meiji Holdings Co. said sales of its mainstay Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt products have maintained around 10 percent growth each month since April last year. "Western-style breakfast foods such as bread and cereal have become more popular" amid the increase in rice prices, a Meji Holdings official said. Related coverage: Japan's core consumer prices in May rise 3.7% on surging rice costs Football: Locally produced rice funds Yokohama FC player development
