Sony Woes Seen Prelude to Loeb-Inspired Breakup: Real M&A

Sony Corp.’s latest earnings disappointment held a silver lining: the company’s willingness to entertain some of activist investor Daniel Loeb’s suggestions. And it may be just the beginning.

The Tokyo-based company forecast a $1.1 billion annual loss as it sells the personal-computer business and splits the TV-manufacturing division into a separate unit that it may divest eventually. While falling short of Loeb’s calls for a bigger breakup, the moves sparked an 11 percent jump in the shares last week, and followed a pledge to provide more transparency in Sony’s financial statements.