SAAF Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE Growth, code 1447) said on September 8, 2026 that its independent committee, in its fifth recommendation report since March, has found two more shareholders acting in concert with the investor group it is fighting over control of the company. The additions, a limited-liability company called Suzuki Sangyo and an individual shareholder surnamed Shinohara, join what SAAF calls its "specified shareholder group," which after three earlier rounds of designation already numbered about 19 investors.
The timing did the talking. Suzuki Sangyo held zero SAAF shares at the end of March and as of June 19, 2026, then bought 1,202,900 shares, 4.96% of voting rights, in the space of two days on July 21-22. Shinohara went from zero to 28,500 shares, 0.12% of voting rights, between July 16 and 22. July 22 was the record date SAAF had set for the extraordinary shareholders' meeting that a dissident investor, already part of the designated group, had demanded. The committee said both new buyers' purchase timing matched how other group members loaded up on stock ahead of the same cutoff.
| Shareholder | Holdings, June 19, 2026 | Holdings, July 22, 2026 | Voting rights, July 22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suzuki Sangyo (limited-liability company) | 0 shares | 1,202,900 shares | 4.96% |
| Shinohara (individual shareholder) | 0 shares | 28,500 shares | 0.12% |
The committee also cited personal and financial ties. Suzuki Sangyo was bought in September 2025 by a company whose representative director is Honda, one of the shareholders SAAF designated back in March; the same day, a new representative named Maruyama took over Suzuki Sangyo and draws pay from the firm Honda's company controls. Shinohara's registered address, the committee found, matches one used by a relative who sits on the boards of companies tied to two other already-designated shareholders. Both new names voted the same way as the rest of the specified group at SAAF's August 25 extraordinary meeting, against the company's own resolution and for the rival proposal.
With the two additions, SAAF's board says the specified group's combined voting power rose from 25.97% to 31.05%, and that neither Suzuki Sangyo nor Shinohara filed the notice-of-intent required before buying more stock under the takeover-response policy adopted in February and renewed in July. That makes both "buyers" under the plan, subject to the same countermeasure aimed at the rest of the group.
That countermeasure is close to firing. Shareholders approved triggering it at the August 25 meeting, and SAAF plans to allocate its first series of "A" share warrants for free to everyone on its shareholder register as of September 14, 2026. The allocation is not locked in: SAAF says it will hold back or cancel the free warrant issue if the designated buyers withdraw their purchases, or if the independent committee makes a fresh recommendation calling for a pause. What happens next depends on what Suzuki Sangyo and Shinohara, two newly public names in the dispute, do before that date.