Ishikawa is a remote, mountainous prefecture bordering the Sea of Japan, but the fate of a drug store chain whose local roots go back to 1869 has implications for Tokyo¡¯s financial markets hundreds of kilometers away.
The company, Kusuri no Aoki Holdings, is run by two brothers who are the sixth generation of the founding family. They are fighting for control of the firm with their largest outside shareholders, Aeon and the activist fund Oasis Management.
President Hironori Aoki and his younger brother Takanori, who increased their personal stakes in the company through a controversial stock option issuance about a year and a half ago, have called for an emergency general meeting on Tuesday. On the agenda is a so-called poison pill defense that threatens to dilute the holdings of Aeon and Oasis.
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