Sony Votes Down Loeb’s Proposal to Splinter the Business

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Shareholder and self-proclaimed activist Daniel Loeb, who owns 7 percent of Sony, failed to convince Japan’s electronic and entertainment company from letting him splinter one-fifth of its entertainment arm into its own business. He proposed this to allow Sony’s faltering electronics division to gurney up some money to make them competitive against such foreign goliaths as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc, who are at the moment battling each other for market dominance.

Instead, Sony voted anonymously to hold to their longstanding plan to maintain synergies between its content and electronics division, wishing not to change their vision – though some analysts dispute whether such a vision still holds water.

  

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“Sony’s board of directors has unanimously concluded that continuing to own 100 percent of our entertainment business is the best path forward and is integral to Sony’s strategy,” wrote Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai in a letter to Loeb, as Reuters reported.

Nonplussed, and still eager to make the sale and expand Third Point into something dependent, they responded saying “Third Point looks forward to an ongoing dialogue with management and intends to explore further options to create value for Sony shareholders.”

Since “creating value for shareholders” is what shareholders like most to hear, there might be some future for such dialogue, and Loeb’s influence have at least lead Sony increase the transparency of their entertainment business, updating their metrics with such things as quarterly updates on revenues.