KDDI to acquire 50% stake in Lawson, take it private with Mitsubishi

Japanese telecom operator KDDI Corp. said Tuesday it plans to acquire a 50 percent stake in convenience store operator Lawson Inc., taking it private with trading house Mitsubishi Corp., which owns the other 50 percent.The telecom company plans to launch a tender offer worth around 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion) around April to purchase shares from general shareholders at 10,360 yen each, with the process expected to be completed around September.The move comes as KDDI, which currently has a 2.1 percent stake in Lawson, seeks to strengthen its consumer-oriented business outside the telecomm…READ FULL ARTICLE