Asahi Glass Co recently announced that its tender offer for a CRT glass subsidiary in S Korea increased its stake in the firm by just 8.71% from about 43%, leaving it far short of the target holding of 80%. It is uncertain whether Asahi Glass can take Hankuk Electric Glass Co. private as planned, according to the Japanese firm. In its tender offer ended 21 November 2007, Asahi offered KRW 30,000 for each Hankuk Electric share, a premium of 25.1% over the average price in the preceding 2 months. According to market operators, several investment funds were unhappy with the price & did not tender their shareholdings. Asahi Glass now has a stake of 51.47% in Hankuk Electric; combined with 20% interest held by joint-venture partner LG Electronics Inc., Asahi controls two-thirds of the unit's shares.
