UK-based activist investor NIPPON ACTIVE VALUE FUND PLC (NAVF) and two co-investors have raised their combined stake in Noritz Corporation, the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime-listed water-heater and boiler maker (ticker 5943), to 11.65% of outstanding shares, up from 10.64% at the group's previous disclosure. The increase was disclosed in a large-shareholding report amendment filed with Japan's Kanto Local Finance Bureau on August 24, 2026, covering a reporting-obligation date of August 17, 2026. It is the seventh amendment the group has filed on its Noritz position.
Three entities filed jointly: NAVF, its affiliated NAVF Select (Master) Fund LP, and US investment adviser Dalton Investments, Inc. Their combined 5,654,600 shares break down as follows:
| Holder | Shares held | Stake |
|---|---|---|
| NIPPON ACTIVE VALUE FUND PLC | 2,395,000 | 4.93% |
| NAVF Select (Master) Fund LP | 1,841,900 | 3.79% |
| Dalton Investments, Inc. | 1,417,700 | 2.92% |
| Combined total | 5,654,600 | 11.65% |
The move was not uniform across the group. NAVF's own stake rose to 4.93% from 4.75% through open-market buying recorded from mid-June through July 13, and NAVF Select's rose to 3.79% from 2.91% through open-market buying that continued almost daily through August 17. Dalton Investments, by contrast, trimmed its position slightly, to 2.92% from 2.99%, disposing of small blocks of shares on three separate dates in the same window. The net effect still pushed the group's combined stake up by a full percentage point.
The filing restates why the group is buying. Beyond ordinary investment, NAVF and its co-filers say they may seek advisory dialogue with Noritz management and, depending on how that dialogue develops, could pursue "significant proposals" under Japan's large-shareholding disclosure rules. That is a continuation of an active campaign rather than a new posture: the filing recaps that NAVF already put three shareholder proposals to Noritz's annual meeting in March 2026, covering a revision to the company's restricted-stock compensation plan, a share buyback, and an amendment to Noritz's articles of incorporation governing the number of outside directors.
The filers also reiterate a December 2025 letter NAVF sent to all of its portfolio companies, Noritz included, calling for capital-cost-conscious management, wider use of restricted stock pay tied to formal shareholding guidelines, stronger board independence, and an unconditional review of "all strategic options" for lifting shareholder value, explicitly naming both going private and spin-offs among the options worth examining. The group says it plans to keep pressing that agenda through dialogue with management and could bring further proposals depending on how those talks go.
None of this amounts to a formal response from Noritz, a confirmed take-private process, or a new shareholder vote beyond the resolutions already put to the March meeting. What changed on August 24 is the size of the position behind the campaign, not its substance.