Taking a Stand: Refuting Oasis CIO Seth Fischer's baseless allegations
Since targeting Fujitec, Oasis has embarked on a public campaign claiming to "protect Fujitec from the Uchiyama family's control." They use doubts about related-party transactions between the Uchiyama family and Fujitec as justification. However, they are making sweeping assumptions and exploiting concerns about potential conflicts of interest in Japanese founder-led companies, both listed and unlisted. It is important to note that there are many successful founder-led companies worldwide, with new ones emerging continuously. Seth Fischer has baselessly maligned the Uchiyama family, alleging that I, Takakazu Uchiyama, am a corrupt manager with a conflict of interest. He has even gone so far as to hire private investigators to infringe upon human rights and search for faults.
The related-party transactions between Fujitec and the Uchiyama family, which Oasis alleges, have adhered to proper legal procedures and exhibit synergies without any issues. As an individual, I announced on March 28th that I am pursuing legal action against Seth Fischer and Oasis for defamation.
THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE LAWSUITS ARE COMING SOON.
Oasis' Sole Objective: Selling targeted companies for short-term personal gains
Since 2020, Oasis, a company founded in 2002, has concentrated its activist efforts on Japanese companies. Many activists aim to outmaneuver other shareholders, seeking short-term profits by selling their shares at a high price. This approach is not in alignment with the long-term interests of the company and its shareholders. Oasis's past actions reveal a pattern of targeting companies with robust performance, substantial cash reserves, and valuable assets. While claiming to prioritize shareholder interests, they often engage in activities that result in cash outflows and the liquidation of company assets, with the ultimate goal of exiting at a high price. Seth Fischer, Oasis's CIO, suggested in an interview with the Nikkei newspaper on April 18, 2023, that Fujitec should openly and thoroughly consider a takeover proposal, further raising concerns that this pattern is unfolding at Fujitec (Nikkei Newspaper: "Hong Kong fund manager opposes reappointment of Fujitec president" https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC174X20X10C23A4000000/?n_cid=SNSTW001&n_tw=1681731586).
Furthermore, according to a 2011 announcement by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, Oasis and Seth Fischer were warned and fined HKD 7.5 million by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in relation to JAL's public offering in 2006. They have also been mentioned as subjects of investigations into violations of financial laws and regulations in other countries.
Oasis' Deeply Disturbing Letter to the Board Dated March 7, 2023
Oasis has gone beyond the acceptable range of investor engagement as apparent by the letter, and it appears as if the current Board of Directors is willingly to take "orders" from Oasis.
The attached "Letter" was sent to Takao Okada, President, and the board of directors immediately after the Extraordinary General Meeting in February and the board has acquiesced to most of Oasis’ demands. We believe that this is beyond what is acceptable stewardship by shareholders.
The current Board of Directors is effectively controlled by Oasis and the governance of the company is currently dysfunctional. The eight outside director candidates understand that they take “a position that represents the common interests of all shareholders, including minority shareholders,” as expected by "Guidelines for Outside Directors” formulated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. We also asked the candidates to actively engage in dialogue with shareholders, and they accepted our request.