By Kosaku Narioka

Toyota Industries said it received a proposal to take the company private, sending its shares to a record high.

The Tokyo-listed stock jumped 23% to the limit high on Monday, its biggest percentage gain since at least May 1975. That brought its market capitalization to about 4.9 trillion yen, equivalent to $34.11 billion.

The company, an affiliate of Toyota Motor, said Saturday that it received various proposals, such as going private or improving its capital efficiency.

It said it is considering all possibilities to enhance its value, but nothing has been decided.

The comments followed reports that the founding family of Toyota Motor is proposing to take over Toyota Industries.

Toyota Motor said it is exploring various possibilities, including partial investment in a potential privatization of Toyota Industries.

The Japanese auto giant, the world's largest by sales, said it continuously evaluates the most optimal approach to its stakes in group companies but that no decisions have been made yet.

Toyota Industries, from which Toyota Motor was spun off in 1937, produces forklifts, cars, engines, other auto parts and textile machinery.

Today, Toyota Motor is the biggest shareholder in Toyota Industries, owning a quarter of the company. Meanwhile, Toyota Industries has a stake of about 9% in the Japanese auto giant.

The developments come as financial regulators press Japanese companies to boost shareholder returns and shareholder activism gains traction.

On Friday, Toyota Industries said it would oppose proposals to be made by French investment fund Longchamp, represented by Dalton Investments, at its general shareholders' meeting in June. Longchamp is proposing that outside directors make up most of the board to remove concerns about potential conflicts of interest between its large and minority shareholders, according to a filing by the Japanese company.

Some managements have opted to go private in Tokyo, often with backing from private-equity firms, given that buyouts require a large sum of money. Attempts are sometimes unsuccessful.

At another well-known Japanese company, Seven & i Holdings, Junro Ito, a top executive and son of the founder, made a proposal to take private the retail giant behind 7-Eleven convenience stores--a move that could have thwarted a takeover attempt by Alimentation Couche-Tard, the Canadian owner of Circle K. Ito withdrew the plan several months later as the founding family failed to secure financing for the management buyout.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2025 08:59 ET (12:59 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.