Whitebox Issues Statement Regarding the Opportunity for Enhanced Value Creation at Tokyo Broadcasting System

Believes Initial Measures Announced on February 6 Enhance Shareholder Value

Encourages TBS to Take Further Concrete Steps, Including Committing to Use Excess Assets and Cash, to Execute More Significant Buybacks at Presently Discounted Levels

NEW YORK & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Whitebox Advisors, LLC (“Whitebox” or “we”), which is the manager of certain investment vehicles that together hold more than 1% of the outstanding shares of Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings Inc. (“TBS” or the “Company”) (TYO: 9401), today issued a statement in response to TBS’s incremental adoption of only select aspects of the value-enhancing steps that Whitebox and other shareholders have been advocating for over the past two years.

Simon Waxley, Whitebox’s Head of Equities, commented:

“We are encouraged by TBS’s acknowledgement that shareholder returns are important. The announcement of a JPY26Bn+ stake disposal and JPY8Bn buyback proposal also seems to indicate that the board of directors and management are gradually adopting some of the measures advocated by shareholders. However, these steps are insufficient on their own and instead should mark the beginning of a concerted effort to maximize shareholder value.

We urge TBS to commit its material excess securities and cash of JPY540Bn to buying back shares, which currently offer an incomparable investment opportunity given that the Company’s shares are trading at what we estimate to be a 56% discount to net asset value. In contrast, real estate, the main target of TBS’s surplus capital of late, is a low-return business.

We understand TBS to be a media company and is accordingly protected by a 20% foreign shareholding limit. We would question the validity of such a limit if TBS became a company strategically focused on real estate.”

About Whitebox

Whitebox is a multi-strategy alternative asset manager that seeks to generate optimal risk-adjusted returns for a diversified base of public institutions, private entities and qualified individuals. Founded in 1999, Whitebox invests across asset classes, geographies, and markets through the hedge fund vehicles and institutional accounts we advise. The firm manages approximately $6 billion in assets and maintains offices in Minneapolis, Austin, New York, London, and Sydney.