Sometimes the most important lessons in life involve what not to do. The Toyota group may have prevailed over minority shareholders in a buyout, but the tussle showed that not even Japan’s most powerful conglomerate can get away with lowballing investors — a development that bodes well for efforts to improve the way companies are overseen.

On the face of it, the dispute between Toyota and activist investor Elliot Investment Management ended amicably on Monday with an agreement that gave each side what it wanted. The group got the green light to delist one of its members, Toyota Industries, and take it private in what is expected to be the biggest ever deal of its kind. Elliott successfully campaigned for — and received — a higher price for its stake in the company.

But the public nature of the clash and the criticisms leveled against Toyota for shortchanging independent shareholders demonstrate how not to run a takeover deal. A proposal for Japan’s most important conglomerate to safeguard its future should have been straightforward. Instead, it devolved into a fractious takeover fight, with some investors expressing despair over how they were being treated.

© The Japan Times