KKR
TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japanese eyecare products maker TopCon is exploring going private among other measures to raise corporate value, it said in a statement, following reports that private equity firms were placing bids to take the firm private.
Private equity firms including KKR & Co are in a bidding process to acquire the company, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Bloomberg News first reported about the bids on Tuesday, also naming Swedish investment firm EQT as a contender.
"We are always considering various measures to enhance our corporate value, not only the measures mentioned in the report," TopCon said in the statement dated Tuesday, adding that nothing had been decided yet.
KKR declined to comment, while EQT did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
TopCon shares rose as much as 23% on Wednesday, giving it a market cap of around 280 billion yen ($1.85 billion), according to Reuters calculations based on LSEG data.
($1 = 151.6600 yen)
(Reporting by Anton Bridge in Tokyo and Anirban Sen in New York; additional reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Editing by Varun H K)
By Anton Bridge and Anirban Sen