Report Says KKR Has Offered to Buy 60% of Takata

New York City-based private equity firm KKR & Co. has offered to buy about 60% of Takata Corp. and restructure the troubled airbag supplier, sources tell The Nikkei.

Both companies have declined to comment. But the report prompted Takata shares, which have lost two-thirds of their value in the past 12 months, to surge 21% on Thursday.

The company's founding family currently controls 60% of the company. Takata is grappling with the impending financial fallout of recalls involving roughly 100 million of its explosion-prone airbag inflators. The devices have been linked to 13 fatalities and more than 130 injuries worldwide.

The Nikkei notes that the choice of any major investor would require approval by the company’s carmaker customers and other significant stakeholders. Takata supplies about 20% of the world’s automotive airbag systems.

Bloomberg News notes that KKR previously has invested in several Japanese companies. A source tells the news service that Takata also is in preliminary talks with other potential financial backers.