February 1, 2007-Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (Ajinomoto; President & CEO: Norio Yamaguchi; Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan) today signed an agreement to form a capital and business alliance with YAMAKI Co., Ltd. (YAMAKI; President: Hisashi Kido; Headquarters: Iyo-shi, Ehime).
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Ajinomoto and YAMAKI share a common management vision of contributing to a healthy diet with delicious food for consumers by broadening the use of Japanese-style seasonings, starting with dried bonito, a traditional ingredient of Japanese food and a core ingredient in both companiesf Japanese seasonings business. The two companies decided that broadly complementing each otherfs businesses could facilitate business expansion and cost reductions.
1. Overview of Capital Alliance
Ajinomoto plans to acquire a 33.4% equity stake in YAMAKI by the end of March 2007. In addition to a transfer of existing shares of YAMAKI, Ajinomoto will also receive new shares through a third-party allocation. Accompanying the acquisition, Ajinomoto plans to send several directors to YAMAKI, which will become an equity affiliate of Ajinomoto.
@At the same time, YAMAKI will acquire a 20% equity stake in Ajinomotofs subsidiary Bonito Technical Laboratory, and plans to send one director to that company.
2. Content of Business Alliance and Impact on Earnings
The main areas of the business alliance are expected to include:
@ (1)Mutual licensing of intellectual property and know-how in the area of Japanese-style seasonings,
@ (2)Joint research on dried bonito and bonito by-products, and
@ (3)Wide-ranging cost reductions, including co-purchasing of raw materials and joint distribution.
The business alliance will have no significant impact on Ajinomotofs earnings for the current fiscal year.
3. Businesses of Each Company
Ajinomoto continues to grow in the wide-ranging business areas of food products, amino acids and pharmaceuticals, with a focus on gtastinessh and ghealth.h In the food products business, Ajinomoto aims to promote healthy diets with delicious food, centered on its seasoning segment, which includes umami seasoning AJI-NO-MOTO and Japanese, Chinese and Western-style gdashih (soup stock) seasonings.
@YAMAKI is engaged in creating unique Japanese-style products that emphasize their natural value, centered on the core product dried bonito and extending to instant dashi and Japanese noodle dipping sauce. The companyfs Japanese noodle sauce shows high growth potential due to YAMAKIfs unique production technology.
4. Schedule
February 1, 2007-March 2007 (planned)
- Signing of capital and business alliance agreement, new share subscription agreement and share transfer agreement
- Ajinomoto to complete acquisition of 33.4% of the outstanding shares of YAMAKI
- YAMAKI to complete acquisition of 20% of the outstanding shares of Bonito Technical Laboratory
5. Overview of YAMAKI Co., Ltd.
(1) Corporate name |
YAMAKI Co., Ltd. |
(2) Main business |
Manufacture and sale of processed foods, dried seafood
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and
processed seafood |
(3) Date of establishment |
November 1950 (Founded April 1917) |
(4) Head office address |
1698-6, Kominato, Iyo-shi, Ehime Prefecture |
(5) Representative |
Hisashi Kido (Presidentj |
(6) Paid-in capital |
\85.6 million (As of March 31, 2006) |
(7) Sales |
Approximately \39.6 billion (Year ended March 31, 2006) |
(8) Ordinary income |
Approximately \0.6 billion (Year ended March 31, 2006) |
(9) Fiscal year end |
March |
(10) Number of employees |
640 (As of March 31, 2006) |
Reference: Overview of Bonito Technical Laboratory
(1) Corporate name |
Bonito Technical Laboratory Co., Inc. |
(2) Main business |
Processing of seafood, and sale and research &
@ development of processed seafood products |
(3) Date of establishment |
May 1997 |
(4) Head office address |
1320-1, Souemon Yaizu-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture |
(5) Representative |
Tatsuya Koshimo (President) |
(6) Paid-in capital |
\50.0 million (As of March 31, 2006) |
(7) Sales |
\218.0 million (Year ended March 31, 2006) |
(8) Ordinary income |
\15.0 million (Year ended March 31, 2006) |
(9) Fiscal year end |
March |
(10) Number of employees |
11 (As of March 31, 2006) |
For further information please contact:
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Corporate Communications Department; Tel: +81-3- 5250-8180
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