Toyota Industries shares hit record high after Toyota Motor raises buyout

Shares of forklift manufacturer Toyota Industries jumped to a record high on Thursday, a day after Toyota Motor sweetened the tender offer price for buying out the carmaker by more than 15% to over $35 billion.

Shares of Toyota Industries rose almost 6% to 19,080 yen, soaring past the revised offer price, signaling investors likely expect an even better deal.

Shares of Toyota Motor, the world’s largest carmaker by sales, advanced over 2%.

Toyota Motor said late Wednesday it had raised the buyout offer for the group company to 18,800 yen ($118.11) per share, from 16,300 yen apiece announced in June last year, advancing plans to take the company private.

Last year, Toyota Motor had sought to acquire Japan’s largest corporate group for 4.7 trillion yen. The deal included 1 billion yen from chair Akio Toyoda, and Toyota Motor’s investment of about 700 billion yen in non-voting preferred shares.

In December, Toyota Industries said it had asked for a higher price, citing concerns that the deal’s chances of success were limited.

“While the revised offer represents an all-time high, it remains arguably light,” said Arun George, a global equity research analyst on SmartKarma.

It comes in below the middle of the valuation range set out by the independent adviser, suggesting the company may still be undervalued, he said.

Toyota Industries, which founded Toyota Motor, produces a range of products including forklifts, engines, electronic components, and stamping dies.

“I expect there to be some interesting fireworks on this deal. It is the biggest mis-priced takeover in Japan for quite a while. To be clear I expect activist action,” said Travis Lundy, an independent analyst, adding that he expects activists to demand a higher price or try to block the deal.

In its latest sales and production report, Toyota Motor’s global output slid 5.5% to 821,723 units in November, marking the first year-on-year decline in six months. Global sales also fell 2.2% year-on-year, with the company reporting that sales in China fell after the country scaled back on purchase subsidies in certain regions.

The automaker flagged a substantial hit from U.S. tariffs, projecting a 1.45 trillion yen (over $9 billion) impact for its financial year ending March.

Toyota Motor last November announced it would invest $912 million across U.S. manufacturing facilities in five Southern states, part of a broader plan to spend up to $10 billion in the U.S. by 2030.