TAKATA TUMBLES FURTHER ON BANKRUPTCY FEARS
Shares plummet for 4th straight day after rumour of asset sale
TAKATA suffered another crushing collapse yesterday, plummeting more than 50 per cent on fears the airbag maker at the centre of the car industry’s biggest-ever safety recall is headed for bankruptcy.
The car parts giant, facing suits and huge recall-related costs over a bag defect linked to at least 16 deaths globally, has tumbled for four straight days.
It is now worth less than a quarter of its value from just a week ago when a report by Japan’s leading Nikkei business daily said it would seek bankruptcy protection and sell its assets to a United States company.
At yesterday’s close, the embattled stock had plummeted 55 per cent to 110 yen (RM4.24) from a day earlier.
“The shares are going to keep falling because the only buyers are day traders hoping to lock in gains from fluctuations in the price,” said Hiroaki Hiwata, a strategist at Toyo Securities.
Another Nikkei report yesterday said Takata, with liabilities exceeding one trillion yen, would file for bankruptcy protection as early as Monday.
Takata’s major carmaker clients reportedly support the bankruptcy filing plan.
The scandal-hit airbag firm and some of its car customers are facing legal claims they knew about
the problem and kept silent about it.
Takata issued a brief statement yesterday that said “no decision of any kind has been made” on a bankruptcy filing.
A filing would clear the way for US autoparts maker Key Safety Systems, owned by China’s Ningbo Joyson Electronic, to take over the firm’s operations, the Nikkei has said.
Takata’s US-based unit TK Holdings is also expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Nearly 100 million cars, including about 70 million in the US, were subject to the airbag recall, the largest in auto history, over the defective Takata airbags.
Takata has already agreed to
pay a US$1 billion (RM4.29 billion) fine to settle suits in the US over its airbags, and the company was heavily criticised for staying largely silent as the crisis grew.
The scandal has involved almost every major global automaker, including top client Honda, which has already written down huge costs linked to the crisis.
The new company created under Key Safety would reportedly buy Takata’s operations and continue supplying airbags, seat belts and other products.
The downsized Takata would remain responsible for recallrelated liabilities, said the Nikkei. AFP