TCI turns up the heat on J-Power

London-based hedge fund TCI is pushing ahead with its war of attrition against the board of J-Power, taking stakes in the Japanese utility's major shareholders in a bid to force directors to boost returns.

The Children's Investment Fund Management has bought stakes of less than 5% in Mizuho, Japan's secondbiggest bank, and Kajima, the nation's biggest general contractor, in the past couple
of months, its Asia division chief, John Ho, said.
TCI told Mizuho and Kajima that, as a shareholder, it expected them to pay attention
to raising corporate value.

"We hold every company accountable for their
investment returns and if J-Power does well, they will do well," Ho told Bloomberg.

"We will seek to have them invest and vote on the
investment holdings appropriately to maximise the
value of their investment."

TCI was blocked from doubling its 9.9% stake in
J-Power earlier this month. It wants greater transparency at the utility and aims to force
the board to double dividends.