Seibu shareholders reject Cerberus proposal for 9 seats on board

Message to foreign capital: we'll take your money, but don't expect to have an active role in mgt., and don't expect us to be overly concerned about maximizing shareholder value.

The real reason mgt. lead the resistance to foreign control of the board is because the board would have justifiably fired them all.

Considering that Seibu would have gone bankrupt, and most or all of its workers let go were it not for Cerberus' money, this seems a tad ungrateful.

When Seibu lists, they should up their take to 50.1%, or divest completely. Right now, they have the worst of both worlds.

Foreign money ok, board membership no way no how. Lesson number 1 in Japan, foreigners don't have a voice in management.

The battle is not between foreign or local capital. This is a red herring used to play on the emotions of those inclined to tribal sentiments. In a neo-liberal world, fewer barriers to capital exist and capital really has no face as ultimately it seeks the simple aim of creating more capital. The important battle is between the classes, which growing income disparities around the world show is being won by the privileged few.

There are no "classes" except in people's minds. The majority of the "privileged few" were not born that way, most of them rose out of the middle or lower classes. There is no rule saying that you or I can't do the same. Some people work harder or smarter than others, to blame this on a being a member of a particular class is a weak crutch indeed. If you aren't part of "the privileged few", then you should either work harder to become one of them, or shut up and be content with your lot. More than likely, one of these "privileged few" took the risks and dd the hard work to create the business where you now work. You should be thankful, and not bite the hand that feeds you, like Seibu is doing to Cerberus. If you don't like where you are, try building and sailing your own ship, and see how difficult it really is.

Cerberus should take their money out of Seibu, and let them flounder into the bankruptcy they deserve. Other investors should learn from Cerberus' experience, and keep their capital out of Japan.

One Cerberus representative was voted to the board in Tuesday’s vote.

-probably one too many.

Cerberus should push off. Didn't they drop a bundle on Aozora Bank? And pretty much ruin its business? Foreign vultures like Cerberus should indeed stay away from Japan as 1. they will never change the way things run and 2. they are not wanted.

News like this is not going to effect the major investors coming to Japan, but the 2nd-tier investors are going to start requiring more incentives to boost capital. Also note that with Abenomics going the way it is maybe Seibu believes they don't have to rely so much on Cerberus anymore. We'll see what happens when Seibu starts trading again.

The battle is not between foreign or local capital. This is a red herring used to play on the emotions of those inclined to tribal sentiments. In a neo-liberal world, fewer barriers to capital exist and capital really has no face as ultimately it seeks the simple aim of creating more capital. The important battle is between the classes, which growing income disparities around the world show is being won by the privileged few.

I agree with you and would add that most of this capital is worthless (has no reserve and is actually structured as fiat debt). The hedge funds get their paper money are very low interest rates (Goldman Sachs becoming a "bank holding company" and allowed Federal Reserve money is best example) and do basically nothing to make bets that ironically the American tax-payer now bails out when the bets go bad. Cerberus (three-headed dog) got bailed out over Chrysler also.

There is a huge difference in a hedge fund like Cerberus and a real company like Seibu that has employees, must stock shelves and care for customers.

Absolutely true that the top .0001% get the NSA inside information and get that first call before the rug is pulled out from the stock market. Even the robotraders get a time advantage. What about "Dark Pool" trading?

Dark pools, which don’t publish bids or offers on shares, were set up to allow large investors to trade big blocks without having news of their orders move the price. NYSE and its peers contend that the original rationale no longer applies because, they say, the average trade size in dark pools has fallen to about 200 shares. As a result the private venues are becoming less-regulated versions of traditional exchanges, they said.

most remarks here are amusing to say the least (...) Seibu is in retail

Your remark is most amusing as well. Seibu Holdings is NOT in retail. Its business is railways and hotels. The Seibu Department stores are owned by Seven & I (Ito-Yokado).

The Asahi headline this morning had an employee quoted as saying "this is war" (or like war), which is bound to resonate with the fact that Cerberus is a non Japanese company.

The battle is not between foreign or local capital. This is a red herring used to play on the emotions of those inclined to tribal sentiments. In a neo-liberal world, fewer barriers to capital exist and capital really has no face as ultimately it seeks the simple aim of creating more capital. The important battle is between the classes, which growing income disparities around the world show is being won by the privileged few.

most remarks here are amusing to say the least. Cerberus's stake is high but 9 out of 15 BM was from the beginning a failure because the others also want their saying in the management. Seibu is in retail, retail in Japan is synonym for ferocious competition. Since Cerberus went in Seibu's sales have not stabilized, their store are mostly in horrible locations, bad design, bad things on offer ecc so they'll probably never recover (if you want to get things right in retail in Japan you should look at Aeon Corp...) - The most pathetic remarks are the one banging about how Japan is not open for foreign capital and blablabla, of course it is open, you can buy what you want, what stake you want (if legal) and do with the earnings whatever you want...so please stop this "they want your capital but they don't want you in management" .... it's pathetic. Cerberus went in on its own risk and has to live with it... don't play the crying game.... Cerberus doesn't care about any of you, nor any other person, their only goal in life is PROFIT!!! so be it, wrong invetsment, get stuffed!