Fujitsu Management Spat Widens as Glass Lewis Seeks Ouster of Directors

Fujitsu Ltd. shareholders should vote out Chairman Michiyoshi Mazuka and director Hiroshi Oura as board members in connection with the dismissal of the company’s former President Kuniaki Nozoe, proxy advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. said.

Japan’s biggest computer-services provider in April defended the dismissal, saying Nozoe’s ties to a fund with an unfavorable reputation made him unfit for the post. The former executive, who’s asking for a further explanation of the reasons behind his September ouster, last month lodged a second request with a court asking to be reinstated as a representative director at Fujitsu.

The episode “raises significant concerns over the board’s decision-making process and its commitment to shareholder value,” Glass Lewis said in an e-mailed report. Oura and Mazuka “should not continue to serve on the board.”

“It’s regrettable to see this advice because we’ve tried to provide a full account of the issue,” Fujitsu spokesman Etsuro Yamada said by phone today.

Fujitsu gained 2.3 percent to 584 yen as of 9:13 a.m. in Tokyo trading, trimming its decline this year to 2 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average has dropped 7.1 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mariko Yasu in Tokyo at myasu@bloomberg.net.

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