Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) and Yahoo Japan Corporation ("Yahoo", Head Office: Tokyo, President and Representative Director, Manabu Miyasaka) today announced the establishment of Dynamic Plus Co., Ltd. ("Dynamic Plus"), a joint venture that will operate and provide dynamic pricing services, which set flexible prices for services based on current market demand. In addition, Dynamic Plus has accepted equity investment from PIA Corporation ("PIA", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO Hiroshi Yanai), one of the largest ticketing agencies in Japan, and signed an alliance agreement in order to develop a dynamic pricing business.

With the momentum of IoT and digital transformation on a global scale, dynamic pricing, a real-time price adjustment method utilizing machine learning and other AI technologies, is being used in many industries in Western countries. Dynamic pricing is implemented through a specialized algorithm that analyzes big data, such as products/services, market trends, weather and personal preferences, on a cloud-based platform. Price adjustments are made automatically based on demand forecasts, responding to customer needs. Dynamic pricing also allows sellers to nimbly maximize sales and revenue.

Mitsui and Yahoo have been conducting proof-of-concept with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks regarding dynamic pricing in the area of entertainment ticketing since 2017. Mitsui also has been conducting this with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in alliance with PIA. Based on the results, Mitsui and Yahoo made the decision to establish the joint venture Dynamic Plus. Mitsui and Yahoo will expand their dynamic pricing business starting from the live entertainment ticketing market to the hotel, parking, transportation, logistics and other as-a-service industries.

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