Playback ’05] “Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc. stock purchase scandal” – Fuji Television is in a difficult position because of Hollimon’s ministry.

What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we take a look back at the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we will look back at the article “Holliemon raises another 50 billion yen in funding! Horie raises another 50 billion yen!” This time, we will introduce ” Horie vs.

Fuji Television Network has been rocked by compliance issues stemming from Masahiro Nakai’s “90 million yen settlement” scandal. Coincidentally, there was a similar scandal that threatened the very existence of Fuji Television 20 years ago. This was the acquisition of Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc. by Livedoor, which was led at the time by Takafumi Horie, then 32, a.k.a. Holliemon.

On February 8, 2005, Horie announced that Livedoor had acquired 35% of Nippon Broadcasting System’s outstanding shares. Over the next two months, the “takeover war” that had captured the attention of all of Japan was set in motion. (Descriptions in parentheses are quotations from previous articles. All ages are current at the time).

We don’t want Livedoor to interfere at all.

Due to the historical background of its establishment, Fuji Television had an awkward capital structure, with Nippon Broadcasting System, which has by far the smallest presence and the largest assets, as the largest shareholder. Controlling Nippon Broadcasting System would allow him to take control of Fuji Television’s management at the same time. With this in mind, Mr. Horie took advantage of after-hours trading to acquire Nippon Broadcasting’s shares in one fell swoop. He became the largest shareholder with a 35% stake.

He said, “I really don’t want Livedoor to interfere in any way with the management of Fuji Television. In the worst case scenario, we could sell the Nippon Broadcasting System shares and cut it off from the group.

A Fuji Sankei Group executive told this magazine, “I don’t want to get involved in the management of the company.

Horie was not silent in his response to the Fuji Sankei Group management’s refusal to be involved in the management of the company, either.

As a major shareholder who bought 35% of Nippon Broadcasting System, I would like to ask them for a business tie-up with us, but they are not listening to us at all. If they don’t want us to buy 35% of their shares, they shouldn’t have gone public in the first place.

Horie remained bullish, but there were reports that the reason for his bullish stance was because he had succeeded in raising 50 billion yen in financing from the company backing the acquisition. He was so confident that some people in the know said, “He already thinks he is the president of the company.