OBARA Group said its share buyback pushed President Koji Obara's voting-rights ratio above the 10% mark on March 2, triggering a major-shareholder change notice that the company did not publish until June 22. The company apologised for the delay.
The important point is what did not change. Obara still held 14,866 voting rights, equal to 1,486,600 shares, both before and after the event. His ratio nevertheless rose to 10.33% from 9.69%, and his rank among large shareholders moved to third from fourth, because the company said the change followed its previously announced acquisition of treasury shares.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Reference date | End-September 2025 | End-March 2026 |
| Voting rights held | 14,866 | 14,866 |
| Shares held | 1,486,600 | 1,486,600 |
| Ownership ratio | 9.69% | 10.33% |
| Large-shareholder rank | 4th | 3rd |
| Shares excluded from voting-right calculation | 5,525,080 | 6,483,780 |
For readers outside Japan, this is the small but useful corporate-finance lesson. A buyback can alter ownership percentages and disclosure status even when no insider buys more stock. OBARA Group's own figures show the share count used for voting-rights calculations changed between the end of September 2025 and the end of March 2026, while issued shares stayed at 20,869,380.
OBARA Group said the shareholder change would have no impact on management or earnings. That limits the immediate operational significance. Still, the late notice matters: ownership thresholds are one of the places investors watch for changes in voting power, and this case shows how treasury-stock moves can change the picture without a single new share purchase by the named holder.