2001
Jan.26, 2001
Minebea Co., Ltd.
Minebea transfers shares in their furniture business to the investment fund, run jointly by Advantage Partners, Inc. and Marubeni Corp.
Minebea Co., Ltd. (hereinafter called "Minebea". Registered head office in Miyota-machi, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano, Japan, President : Tsugio Yamamoto), and Advantage Partners, Inc. (hereinafter called "Advantage". Registered head office in Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan, Representative Partner : Taisuke Sasanuma, Richard L. Folsom), have basically agreed that Minebea will transfer all the shares in its 100% owned furniture business subsidiary Actus Corporation (hereinafter called "Actus". Registered head office in Shimo-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President : Masahito Saigusa) to the Investment Fund run jointly by Advantage and Marubeni Corp.
Actus, established in 1981 as Minebea's furniture business division, currently engages in the sales and contract business of furniture and interior at six stores domestically and enjoys steady business as Minebea's subsidiary.
Advantage has two private equity investment funds, MBI Fund I and MBI Fund II under management, making various types of investments, such as taking over large corporations' divisions or subsidiaries, and has already made investments in various businesses. Advantage, based on their unique investment plan, will be pursuing the strategy to enhance the scope and size of Actus business.
Minebea has strongly supported Actus in finance and in management, which has brought favorable business results for the past few years. Taking into consideration that the Actus trademark being further recognized in the market, and expecting business expansion, improvement in business results, and favourable results for the employees of Actus, it was decided at the Minebea Board of Directors Meeting held today to transfer all the Minebea owned shares in Actus to Advantage and entered into an Interim Agreement, allowing Advantage, which has the firm future vision and rich financial resources, to take over Actus.
The transfer of Actus shares will be in line of Minebea's business strategy to return to its core manufacturing business and will contribute to the intension of management resources and financial improvement of the Minebea Group.
A Purchase Agreement is scheduled to be signed in the middle of February, and in the meantime due diligence will be conducted and conditions such as share transfer price will be decided.
Advantage will aim at establishing a superior furniture business while considering the continuation of previous Actus management policy. Minebea will provide, for the time being, continuous support with Actus for further business development. Therefore, Minebea and Advantage are confident that the customers and the companies that have on-going business with Actus would understand this share transfer and continuously support Advantage and Actus.
Attachments
1) Business Summary of Minebea
2) Business Summary of Actus
3) Business Summary of Advantage
For further information and inquiries, please contact:
Minebea Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Office, Corporate Planning Department
Ryusuke Mizukami / Yasuaki Miyahara
ARCO Tower, 19th Floor, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8662
Tel : 81-3-5434-8637 / Fax : 81-3-5434-8607
E-Mail : ymiyahar@minebea.co.jp
URL : http://www.minebea.co.jp/
Advantage Partners, Inc.
PR: Tomoyo Umeda
Imperial Tower 16th Floor,
Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0011
TEL : 81-3-5157-0170 FAX : 81-3-5157-0173
URL: http://www.advantagegroup.co.jp/
Minebea Co., Ltd.
| President : | Tsugio Yamamoto | |
| Capital : | 68.3 Billion Yen (As of September 30, 2000) | |
| Head Office : | 4106-73 Miyota-machi, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano TEL : 0267-32-2200 |
|
| Tokyo Head Office : | Arco Tower, 19th Floor, 1-8-1 Shimo-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo TEL : 03-5434-8611 |
|
| Date of Establishment : | July 16, 1951 | |
| Number of employees : | Minebea Co., Ltd. 2,732 (As of December 31, 2000) Minebea Group 46,432 (As of December 31, 2000) |
|
| Annual Turnover : | 284.8 Billion Yen (Fiscal year ending March 2000) | |
| Main Business : | · Machinery Components | Bearings Machinery Components Transportation Equipment Defense-related special parts |
| · Electronic Devices & Components | Electronic devices | |
| · Consumer Business | ||
Actus Corporation
| President : | Masahito Saigusa |
| Capital : | 14 Billion Yen (This is the capital as of today. The capital will be 140 million Yen as at February 16, 2001 when the decrease of capital will be completed.) |
| Head Office : | Arco Tower, 19th Floor, 1-8-1 Shimo-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo |
| Main Office : | Bicks Shinjuku Building, 2-19-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo TEL : 03-5269-3201 |
| Date of Establishment : | December 17, 1981 |
| Number of employees : | 306 (As of December 31, 2000) |
| Annual Turnover : | 10.8 Billion Yen (Fiscal year ending March 2000) |
| Main Business : | Import and sales, wholesale trade of furniture and interior decoration |
Advantage Partners Inc.
| Incorporated : | December 17, 1992 |
| Representatives : | Representative Partner Taisuke Sasanuma Representative Partner Richard L. Folsom |
| Tokyo Head Office : | 16F Imperial Tower,1-1-1 Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0011 |
| Business Activity Description : | -Private equity fund management MBI Fund I (Established Oct 1997) MBI Fund II (Established Jan 2000) - Direct private equity investment via start-up and acquisition Group Companies : - APM Co., Ltd. - Advantage Risk Management Co., Ltd. - Choei Advantage Co., Ltd. - Kudan Advantage Co., Ltd. |
| Portfolio Companies MBI Fund I/II : | - Fuji Machinery Mfg. & Electronics Co., Ltd. - Polygon Picures KK - ICREO Co., Ltd. - Kisco Solutions, Ltd. - Hiramatsu Inc. - AICO Technologies Co., Ltd. |
Product information, contact and other context are subject to change without prior notice.
