Dan Loeb could learn something from his battle with Japan Inc.: how to save face.
The hedge-fund billionaire — said to have the hottest hand in investing after the incredible $1 billion he recently earned off Yahoo! — scrambled to put up a good front yesterday after Japanese electronics giant Sony rebuffed his proposal to spin off its entertainment unit.
Loeb first called for the spinoff in a letter to CEO Kazuo Hirai on May 14. Sony quickly said it was exploring the idea, hired a slew of bankers but, in the end, said no to Loeb on Monday.
In a statement, Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund took credit for getting Sony to commit to “greater transparency and disclosure” when it turned Loeb down.
Third Point also said it will “explore further options to create value for shareholders” and had not ruled out a proxy battle.
In reality, activist observers say Loeb’s options are limited.
After its less than two-month battle with Sony, the stock is 4 cents below where it closed on May 14. It fell nearly 5 percent yesterday on Sony’s rejections, closing at $20.72.
One problem for Loeb is that he owns only about 4 percent of Sony stock — not the 7 percent “stake” widely reported that includes cash-settled swaps that aren’t voting shares.
In addition, only 53 percent of Sony’s shares are freely traded, and a sizeable chunk is held by Japanese asset managers, said Warren Chen, a managing director of proxy firm Glass Lewis.
“I don’t think it will be easy” for Loeb to prevail, said Chen, noting that foreigners have not been successful in Japanese activist battles in the past.
At the same time, Japanese corporate culture emphasizes manners and civility, and Loeb has hardly shown himself to be a gentleman recently.
While the hedgie was cordial in his initial letter to Hirai, a recent rant to his Third Point investors slamming the CEO for releasing box-office bombs “After Earth” and “White House Down” likely did not go down well at Sony, Chen said.
mcelarier@nypost.com