Japan’s rail stocks soar on Keisei Electric activist stake news

Shares in Japanese train operators Keisei Electric Railway and Keikyu jumped Monday morning following reports that a fund linked to activist investor Yoshiaki Murakami has built stakes in both companies.
Keisei’s stock jumped over 18%, its sharpest intraday rise since October 2008, with Keikyu climbing more than 16%, the most since 1987. A Murakami-associated fund has taken an almost 5% stake in Keikyu and owns fewer than 1% of Keisei shares, according to a Monday report by Toyo Keizai, citing an unidentified person.
The news is a positive for both companies and delivered a boost to Japan’s rail sector stocks, said Andrew Jackson, head of Japan Equity Strategy at Ortus Advisors. Odakyu Electric Railway climbed as much as 4.9% in early trading Monday, with Central Japan Railway (JR Central) and West Japan Railway (JR West) both up around 2%.
“It’s a knee-jerk reaction, as (rail operators) are generally all seen as value plays, but I’m not expecting much follow-on,” said Jackson.
Activist investors will likely push for Keisei to sell its 19% stake in theme park operator Oriental Land, said Amir Anvarzadeh, Japan equity strategist at Asymmetric Advisors. “We have known for a long time that Keisei is under pressure to dump its stake in Oriental Land,” he said.
Shares of the Tokyo Disney Land operator rose as much as 4.7% on Monday morning after the Murakami investment news was released.