Sony pressed for response on spin-off plan at shareholder meet
Sony’s biggest shareholder wants company to use money from spinning off entertainment division to boost hardware division
Sony shareholders pressed its chief executive on Thursday for a response to a proposal by hedge fund Third Point to spin off its profitable entertainment business, aiming to invigorate its struggling electronics business.
Sony chief executive Kazuo Hirai told an annual shareholders’ meeting that the company would carefully consider the proposal by Daniel Loeb, the billionaire hedge fund manager of Third Point and Sony’s top shareholder.
“Our entertainment division will remain an important part of Sony’s business,” Hirai said. “The board will continue to discuss Third Point’s proposals and we will reach an appropriate decision.”
Loeb wants Sony to spin off as much as one-fifth of the electronics empire’s profitable entertainment unit and use the proceeds to strengthen its hardware division.
His suggestion, likely to stay on the radar for months, strikes at the heart of whether Sony remains both a consumer electronics maker and a provider of music, movies and TV programmes.
At Thursday’s meeting, attended by thousands of shareholders, Hirai said it was important for Sony’s board to thoroughly and carefully consider the proposal and to seek outside input, without rushing for the sake of reaching a decision quickly.