Hitachi, Ltd. told Hitachi Construction Machinery on August 18, 2026, that it planned to sell every share it still held in the machinery maker: 21,462,310 shares, or 10.1% of the voting rights. SMBC Nikko Securities aggregated the buy orders from other brokers and briefly registered as the reporting major shareholder before reselling the entire block to domestic and overseas institutional investors on August 19. A separate filing the same day confirmed the change had gone through: Hitachi's holding fell to zero shares, with settlement due August 21.
Hitachi Construction Machinery's board did not wait to see how the market absorbed that block. On August 18 it approved a buyback of up to 6,420,000 of its own shares, capped at ¥34bn, running from August 19 through November 30. That ceiling works out to about 30% of the shares Hitachi is selling. The company said the purchases, to run through a discretionary market-buying mandate on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, are meant to ease short-term supply-and-demand pressure created by the sale, while also strengthening shareholder returns and improving ROE and capital efficiency.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seller | Hitachi, Ltd. (major shareholder) |
| Shares sold | 21,462,310 shares (10.1% of voting rights) |
| Intermediary | SMBC Nikko Securities |
| Buyback cap, shares | 6,420,000 shares (about 30% of shares sold) |
| Buyback cap, value | ¥34bn |
| Buyback window | August 19 to November 30, 2026 |
| Buyback method | Discretionary-mandate market purchases on the Tokyo Stock Exchange |
The sale closes out Hitachi's remaining equity tie to the construction-equipment maker. The August 19 notice said the two companies had been discussing ways to advance Hitachi Construction Machinery's independent management and broaden its shareholder base to include more individual investors, and that the disposal reflects those talks. Hitachi will no longer hold any shares, but both sides said they intend to keep working together on digital technology, autonomous driving, electrification and parts supply. Hitachi Construction Machinery said the ownership change itself will have no effect on its earnings.
The buyback is not guaranteed to run its full course. The company said in its filing that investment opportunities and market conditions could mean it buys back only part, or none, of the authorized amount before the November 30 deadline.