Ajinomoto and Nomura Research Institute Announce a
Strategic IT Service Alliance
Joint Venture and Share Transfer Agreements Concluded

TOKYO, February 28, 2012 - Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (Ajinomoto) and Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI) have concluded a joint venture agreement and a share transfer agreement in connection with a strategic information technology (IT) service alliance.

Ajinomoto's IT platform has become increasingly important to its operations. NRI is skilled at creating total solutions that combine consulting services and IT solutions. Aiming to become a genuine global company, Ajinomoto entered the alliance to strengthen its operating competitiveness. It will establish a rock-solid technology platform by using NRI's strengths to continuously enhance its productivity and technological capabilities.

Under this alliance, NRI will add an information subsidiary to its corporate group that will be responsible for key functions of the Ajinomoto Group, a leader in the food industry with global operations. While using the NRI Group's business base to help the Ajinomoto Group strengthen its competitiveness, NRI aims to expand into industrial sectors as part of its long-term management plan, Vision 2015.

As part of the alliance, NRI will acquire 51% of the shares issued and outstanding of a wholly owned Ajinomoto subsidiary, Ajinomoto System Techno Corporation (AJITEC), making it an NRI Group subsidiary as of April 1, 2012. The subsidiary's name will change to NRI System Techno, Ltd. (NRI System Techno).

NRI System Techno will be the IT service provider for the Ajinomoto Group. It will make full use of the operating expertise of both Ajinomoto and NRI and actively exchange personnel with these two companies so that it can consistently provide the most advanced, highly specialized IT services. With an eye to develop globally in the future, NRI System Techno will work to expand its operations by aggressively providing advanced IT services to consumer industries.

Alliance Details
1.   Ajinomoto, NRI and NRI System Techno will actively exchange personnel in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the Ajinomoto and NRI groups.
2.   Ajinomoto will retain 49% of NRI System Techno's issued and outstanding shares, and continuously develop NRI System Techno as the core IT service provider for the Ajinomoto Group.
3.   NRI will acquire 51% of AJITEC's issued and outstanding shares and change AJITEC's name to NRI System Techno. NRI will continuously develop NRI System Techno with a deep commitment to improving management and service quality and ensuring operating efficiency. Koji Yamada, currently Corporate Senior Vice President at NRI, will be appointed as President and CEO of NRI System Techno.
4.   NRI will add NRI System Techno to the NRI Group and use the Group's diverse management, IT platform technology, quality and human resources to improve NRI System Techno's productivity and level of service.
5.   NRI System Techno will be based at NRI's Yokohama Center in Hodogaya-ku, where it will use the diverse resources of the NRI Group in its operations.

Overview of NRI System Techno (Provisional)
(1) Corporate name: NRI System Techno, Ltd.
(2) Date of share transfer: April 1, 2012
(3) Location: 134 Godo-cho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
(4) Paid-in capital: JPY 100 million
(5) Equity ownership: Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.: 51%
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.: 49%
(6) Main businesses:   Information system consulting
  Information system design and development contracting
  Information system maintenance contracting
  Information processing service contracting
  Leasing, purchase and sale of information system hardware and software
  Other operations related to the above
(7) Number of employees: NRI System Techno plans to retain all AJITEC employees and provisionally selected new hires. (AJITEC had 344 employees as of March 31, 2011.)
(8) President and CEO Koji Yamada (currently Corporate Senior Vice President at NRI; to be appointed on April 1, 2012)

Timeline for the Strategic Alliance between Ajinomoto and NRI
October 2011 Start of discussion on the feasibility of a strategic alliance
December 2, 2011 Start of full-scale assessment of the strategic alliance
February 28, 2012 Conclusion of joint venture and share transfer agreements
April 1, 2012 Transfer of shares, appointment of a new president and CEO, and change of corporate name to NRI System Techno


About Ajinomoto
Ajinomoto is a global manufacturer of high-quality seasonings, processed foods, beverages, amino acids, pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals. For many decades Ajinomoto has contributed to food culture and human health through wide-ranging application of amino acid technologies. Today, the company is becoming increasingly involved with solutions for improved food resources, human health and global sustainability. Founded in 1909 and now operating in 26 countries, Ajinomoto had net sales of JPY 1,207.6 billion (USD 14.2 billion) in fiscal 2010. For more about Ajinomoto (TYO: 2802), visit www.ajinomoto.com.

About NRI
NRI originated from Nomura Securities' research section and IT section. NRI is the result of a merger that took place in 1988 between the former Nomura Research Institute, which was established in 1965 as the first private think tank in Japan, and Nomura Computer Center (NCC) which engaged in introduction Japan's first private use computer system in 1966. Since then, NRI has been providing consulting services on corporate strategy and business policy, as well as development, operation and joint utilization of IT systems. With annual sales of JPY 326.3 billion in fiscal 2010, NRI is now actively expanding its business worldwide. It has 17 offices in Asia, North America and Europe. For more about NRI (TYO 4307), visit www.nri.co.jp/english.

For further information, please contact:
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Public Communications Department PR Group, E-mail: pr_info@ajinomoto.com
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. Corporate Communication Department, E-mail: kouhou@nri.co.jp

Reference
Corporate name:
Location:
Representative:
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
15-1, Kyobashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Masatoshi Ito, Representative Director, President & Chief Executive Officer
Main businesses:

Paid-in capital:
Manufacture and sale of seasonings, processed foods, amino acids and specialty chemicals
JPY 79.8 billion (as of March 31, 2011)
Founded: May 1909
Number of employees: Ajinomoto Group 28,084 (as of March 31, 2011)

Corporate name:
Location:
Representative:
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building, 6-5, Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Tadashi Shimamoto, President, CEO & COO
Main businesses:
Paid-in capital:
Consulting, financial IT solutions, industrial IT solutions and IT platform services JPY 18.6 billion (as of March 31, 2011)
Established: April 1965
Number of employees: NRI Group 6,594 (as of March 31, 2011)

Corporate name:
Location:
Representative:
Ajinomoto System Techno Corporation
1-1, Suzuki-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Shinichi Suzuki, Representative Director, President
Main businesses:

Paid-in capital:
Equity ownership:
Provision of information system services to Ajinomoto Co., Inc. and Ajinomoto Group companies in Japan
JPY 100 million (as of March 31, 2011)
Ajinomoto Co., Inc.: 100%
Established: January 1990
Number of employees: 344 (as of March 31, 2011)

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