After Olympus Win, ValueAct Targets Japan Materials Maker (1)

In a country where successful activists are still rare, U.S. hedge fund ValueAct Capital Management has already notched up one win with Olympus Corp. Can it do the same with materials maker JSR Corp.?

When ValueAct persuaded Olympus to accept its board nominations in 2019, it was a seldom seen victory for activism in Japan. On Monday, the hedge fund disclosed its latest bet, taking a substantial stake in JSR.

ValueAct, which has more than $12 billion in assets under management, said it now holds 16.5 million shares of JSR and had been in talks with management. Once known ...