When is a buyout premium not a buyout premium? In Japan, at least, it’s when the cross-shareholdings companies hold get in the way. The issue is going to come into sharp focus if Toyota Motor Chair Akio Toyoda and his family follow through on the 6 trillion yen ($42 billion) offer reported by Bloomberg on Friday to take private Toyota Industries ,

Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda has proposed a buyout of Toyota Industries Corp., people familiar with the matter said, seeking to consolidate his grip on Japan’s biggest business empire as a wave of merger and acquisition activity roils the country.