Mitsui & Co., Principal Investments Ltd. ("MCPI", Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Masami Kawahara), a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Masami Iijima), through its Limited Partnership ("LPS"), has agreed to the acquisition of stock in Yaskawa Information Systems Corporation ("YSK", Head Office: Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, President: Yoshifumi Shimizu), a subsidiary of Yaskawa Electric Corporation ("YEC", Head Office: Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, President: Junji Tsuda). LPS will acquire stock valued at around ¥820 million, equaling a 19.9% shareholding ratio. MCPI, as the General Partner in the LPS, will manage the assets of the LPS, the buyer in this acquisition. Along with the acquisition, MCPI and YSK concluded a capital and business alliance agreement.
YSK was established in 1978, having separated from YEC, as an independent company which later became listed on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. YSK is active not only in the fields of corporate business system development and construction, but also holds advanced communications and control system technology as a subsidiary of YEC, who holds the top global market share for industrial robots and motion control systems. YSK has an external sales rate of 80% outside the YEC Group, and is moving into the fields of environmental energy, and healthcare, which are expected to create increased demand for IT in social systems.
Mitsui and MCPI see fields such as IoT, M2M*, environmental energy, and healthcare as markets poised for rapid growth. By forming a capital and business alliance with YSK which possesses the strong technological capabilities required in these fields, the Mitsui Group can utilize the access it has to a broad range of industries and fields to pursue global development and support the expansion and growth of YSK's business. Also through the capital and business alliance, we will form a wide-ranging business alliance with the YEC Group in these target fields.
*IoT: "Internet of Things"
*M2M: "Machine to Machine"
IoT refers to the process of giving communications functionality to not only information and communication devices such as computers, but also to everyday objects, and connecting them to the internet for automatic recognition and remote operation and control.
M2M allows machines to share information with each other over a communications network, facilitating high-level autonomous control and operations.
·Examples of IoT Utilization:
-Connecting the power meters installed in power plants, transformers, power lines, and buildings to networks to automate the collection of power usage data and realize power production and transmission control through data analysis.
·Examples of M2M Utilization:
-Installing sensors in factory automation such as production lines and power plants to allow remote monitoring, preventive maintenance and remote repair, to realize higher operating rates.
Ownership Scheme
Yaskawa Information Systems Corporation Overview
Registered Office |
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture |
Established |
1978 |
Representative |
President: Yoshifumi Shimizu |
Number of Employees |
703 (consolidated base, as of March 20, 2014) |
Equity |
¥664 million |
Main shareholders and shareholdings ratio |
YEC: 38.5%, LPS: 19.9%, Stock Ownership Association: 9.9%, Others |
Businesses |
Software and engineering utilizing embedding and control technologies
Overall information systems field for corporate internal networks |
Notice:
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Mitsui's current assumptions, expectations and beliefs in light of the information currently possessed by it and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause Mitsui's actual results, financial position or cash flows to be materially different from any future results, financial position or cash flows expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to above include, but are not limited to, those contained in Mitsui's latest Annual Securities Report and Quarterly Securities Report, and Mitsui undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
This announcement is published in order to publicly announce specific facts stated above, and does not constitute a solicitation of investments or any similar act inside or outside of Japan, regarding the shares, bonds or other securities issued by us.