Toyota to launch $5.16 billion tender offer for own shares

TOKYO (Reuters) -Toyota Motor said on Tuesday it would launch an 807 billion yen ($5.16 billion) tender offer for its own shares.

The buyback comes amid a governance push by the Tokyo Stock Exchange that has prompted major companies to unwind cross-shareholdings.

The practice of companies holding shares in each other has long been seen as a way to reinforce business ties in Japan. But governance experts and foreign investors say it leads to lax governance by protecting management from shareholders.

Major banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) planned to divest Toyota shares worth a combined $8.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported last month.

Toyota said in a statement it will offer 2,781 yen per share from July 24 to Aug. 26.

Separately, SMFG, Tokio Marine Holdings and MS&AD Insurance Group said they would sell back Toyota shares to the automaker.

A filing earlier this month showed that Japanese financial groups including Tokio Marine, Sompo <8630.T)> and two MS&AD units planned to sell Honda Motor shares worth 535 billion yen.

($1 = 156.4700 yen)

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Miral Fahmy)