Nissan Motor Shares Surge

TOKYO (Reuters) – Nissan Motor shares jumped as much as 6% in early Tokyo trading on Friday following a report by Japan's Diamond Online magazine about activist investor Oasis Management taking a stake in the automaker.

Nissan (OTC:NSANY) shares also rose earlier in the week after a filing revealed that a related entity to activist Effissimo Capital Management had invested in the company.

According to Diamond magazine, which cited an unnamed source, Oasis took its stake in Nissan before Effissimo, though details regarding the stake size and purchase timeline remain unclear. An Oasis representative declined to comment.

Shareholder activism is rising in Japan, with both international and domestic investors urging companies to enhance corporate governance and capital allocation, spurred on by regulators' guidance.

Last week, Nissan announced a profit warning, indicating it will reduce its workforce by 9,000 and cut a fifth of its global manufacturing capacity due to declining sales in its primary markets, China and the United States.

Currently, its shares are up 4% at 426.7 yen ($2.73), outperforming a 1.2% increase in the benchmark Nikkei index; however, they remain down 35% from their peak this year.

($1 = 156.5400 yen)