ValueAct Capital builds 8.7% stake in security software provider Trend Micro

TOKYO (Reuters) -Activist investor ValueAct Capital Partners said on Tuesday it has built an 8.7% stake in cybersecurity software provider Trend Micro Inc, driving shares of the Tokyo-listed firm sharply higher.

Shares of Trend Micro, which has a market value of over $8 billion, jumped more than 7% on Tuesday morning after the news.

ValueAct is among a small number of U.S. firms that have invested heavily in Japanese companies and have tried to work with management and the boards to make some changes.

Its holding in Trend Micro follows investments in Olympus Corp, Nintendo Co, chip-related materials maker JSR Corp and 7-Eleven's owner Seven & i Holdings.

ValueAct said in a statement that it believes Trend Micro could join other successfully transformed software companies as its transformation into a cloud-based cybersecurity platform has just started.

($1 = 134.8400 yen)

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Himani Sarkar)