Canon falls over two-month low

TOKYO: Shares of Canon Inc dropped to their lowest levels in more than two months on Friday after EU antitrust regulators said they could fine it up to 10 percent of annual revenue if they concluded it had breached merger rules.

The regulators said they had reached a preliminary view that Canon breached rules by using a so-called “warehousing” two-step transaction structure involving an interim buyer to acquire Toshiba Medical Systems prior to obtaining the relevant merger approvals.

Ten percent of Canon´s annual revenue would be roughly equivalent to $2.9 billion. In early morning trade, Canon fell as much as 3 percent to 3,682 yen, its lowest level since May 1. The stock was the fifth most traded stock by turnover.