Sahashi Dumps His Shares

Nova announced today [PDF]that former president Nozomu Sahashi no longer owns the 70%+ stake in the company he once had.

As of March 31, 2007, Sahashi owned 24,002,900 shares with voting rights (a 35.55% stake) that ranked him second in terms of holdings. As of September 30, he owns 10,841,900 shares with voting rights (a 16.02％ stake) that places him at the top in terms of holdings.

The number of shares Nova Kikaku held has also changed. As of March 31, 2007, Nova Kikaku owned 24,320,700 shares with voting rights (a 36.02％ stake) that ranked first in terms of holdings. As of September 30, it owned 2,501,700 shares with voting rights (a 7.30％ stake) that places it third in terms of holdings.

A note at the bottom of the announcement says: "At this point in time, Nova has not confirmed the circumstances [of the change in share holdings]. When new information becomes available concerning this matter, Nova will report it in a timely manner." （現時点において、当社では、経緯などの詳細は確認できておりません。本件につきまして、適時開示をすべき新たな事実がわかりましたら、適時、ご報告致します。）. The only person who knows where the shares went is Sahashi himself. We know some shady people screwed him out of some shares, but the truth will only come out once he shows his face in public and explains himself. Won't that be a media circus to watch.