Kakaku.com has filed a fresh amendment to its tender offer opinion notice, confirming a second price increase in three months even as the underlying board recommendation stays unchanged. Kamgras 1, the special-purpose vehicle seeking to take the price-comparison and restaurant-review operator private, raised its offer on August 13 to ¥3,570 a share, up from ¥3,450, and pushed the tender period back to August 27, 2026, a total of 75 business days.
| Date | Price (¥) | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| May 12, 2026 | 3,000 | Initial tender offer launched |
| July 17, 2026 | 3,450 | Raised after Bain Capital-advised group/LINE Yahoo's July 1 proposal |
| Aug 13, 2026 | 3,570 | Raised after Bain Capital-advised group/LINE Yahoo's July 29 proposal of ¥3,520-¥3,640 |
The increase answers a rival approach. On July 29, investment funds advised by Bain Capital Private Equity, together with LINE Yahoo Corporation, offered ¥3,520 a share, rising to ¥3,640 if they could lock KDDI Corporation into an agreement not to tender its stake elsewhere. Kakaku.com asked Kamgras 1 to renegotiate the same day; the higher counter-bid arrived less than two weeks later.
Kamgras 1 argues the rival's top price is largely theoretical. Because Kamgras 1 already holds its own non-tender agreement with KDDI, the filing states that the Bain Capital-advised group would need to launch a full, all-share offer at least 2% above Kamgras 1's price, or ¥3,642 as of August 13, before its own KDDI-linked condition could even be tested. Kakaku.com's special committee has not changed its findings, and the company's own opinion, backing the tender offer while leaving the decision to shareholders and warrant holders individually, also remains unchanged as of August 14.
The higher price raised the bill for Kamgras 1's backers. The equity contribution its parent company must inject before settlement rose to a cap of ¥211bn, from ¥197bn, while a six-bank loan facility, including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Nomura Capital Investment, Bank of Yokohama, Kiraboshi Bank and Aozora Bank, stays capped at ¥225bn. Kamgras 1 also lifted the price it plans to pay non-tendering shareholders in a follow-on treasury-share buyback, to ¥2,902 a share from ¥2,805, a figure the filing says assumes participation by a shareholder identified in the document as DG, together with KDDI.
At ¥3,570, the new offer is 28.7% above Kakaku.com's ¥2,774 close on May 11, the day before the deal was announced, and 68.3% above the ¥2,121 close on April 22, before takeover speculation began. The extraordinary shareholder meeting to approve the share consolidation that would complete the squeeze-out of remaining holders has slipped to mid-October from early October.
The tender offer now runs to August 27. Whether the Bain Capital-advised group and LINE Yahoo answer with a third round, or whether Kamgras 1's price and its KDDI agreement hold, will decide who takes one of Japan's best-known online shopping and review platforms private.