UK Fund AVI Wants Chairman of Japan Drugmaker Rohto to Leave

Asset Value Investors Ltd. is calling for the chairman of Rohto Pharmaceutical Co. to step down from the Japanese drugmaker’s board of directors, in the latest sign that activist shareholders will stay busy this year.

The UK investment fund said it submitted a shareholder proposal to Osaka-based Rohto, saying that chairman Kunio Yamada’s actions were distorting the company’s corporate governance. AVI, which now has about a 2% stake in Rohto, said it began investing in the pharma company in 2024. The shareholder proposal is its first as a Rohto investor, and it will be presented to the annual general stockholder meeting in June.