IF Toshiba Corp tried to bully hedge funds through the government, that’s a bad look all around. The only parties who come off well are the activists the company allegedly aimed to suppress.
The Japanese company – beset by a series of troubles over the past decade, from an accounting scandal to a near brush with bankruptcy – worked with the government to block shareholders from exercising their rights, an independent report released last week found. It details – blow-by-blow – emails, text messages and correspondence among Toshiba management, investors and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.