Koito Disputes Pickens’ Stock Holdings

Koito Manufacturing Co. said today that tax returns indicate T. Boone Pickens Jr. is not the company’s largest shareholder after all, and therefore does not deserve a seat on its board of directors.

Pickens responded by releasing an amended return that he said proves Koito is wrong.

In a letter to Pickens that was released to the press, Koito said the Texas oilman had reported the total net assets of his investment firm, Boone Co., at the end of 1989 at slightly more than $1.93 million.

But, it said, Boone Co. at that time held 39.4 million shares of Koito stock, “valued at $950 million at the prevailing exchange rates at year’s end.”

The lower amount reported on the tax return “appears to reinforce our conclusions that Boone Co. is not the genuine owner of the Koito shares,” said the letter, signed by Koito President Takao Matsuura.

But in a statement soon after Koito released its letter, Pickens presented the amended return, which included roughly the amount Koito had brought into question.

“If they think they found a smoking gun, it just blew up in their face,” Pickens said in a statement. Pickens, who is in Japan to attend Koito’s shareholder meeting on Thursday, claims a 26% share in the Tokyo-based company.

The statement said the original tax report had inadvertently included only Boone Co.’s American assets. The amended report, it said, was filed on June 12, “long before Koito’s accusation.”

“It is a very technical matter,” said Kanji Ishizumi, Pickens’ lawyer in Japan. “They are just picking up on technical details. These are very disturbing tactics.”

Koito spokesman Richard Wolff responded: “Why would (they) make a billion-dollar mistake?’

Koito believes Pickens is acting as a front for Japanese investor Kitaro Watanabe, who has “on two occasions tried to greenmail Koito or its shareholders,” Wolff said.

Greenmail involves large purchases of a company’s stock in an effort to force the company to buy it back at a premium.