Japan Tobacco and Nissin are buying scandal-ridden Katokichi in a deal exceeding ?100 billion (US$917 million) that would create Japan's biggest frozen food maker, the companies said yesterday.
Competition is intensifying in Japan's food industry because an aging population is shrinking the market. Higher raw material costs have also hit the industry. Also, Japan Tobacco Inc, the world's third-largest tobacco company by sales volume, is hoping to branch out into other sources of revenue -- such as food and pharmaceuticals -- as the number of smokers nose-dives in Japan.
Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin Food Products Co, meanwhile, has been seeking to boost its strength in the increasingly cutthroat Japanese food industry. It bought Japan's fourth-biggest instant noodle maker Myojo Foods Co last year.
Under yesterday's deal, JT will launch a tender offer between Wednesday and Dec. 26 to buy shares in Katokichi Co it doesn't already own for ¥109.19 billion (US$999 million), or ?710 a share.
After the purchase, Japan Tobacco and Nissin, which makes Cup Noodles, will hold Katokichi together.
JT will transfer a 49 percent stake in Katokichi to Nissin and hold the remaining 51 percent stake. JT now holds about a 5 percent stake in Katokichi, based in western Japan.
Under the accord, each of JT's and Nissin's frozen food business will be transferred to Katokichi to create an operation with annual sales of ¥260 billion.
Katokichi said it has agreed to the tender offer. Earlier this year, Katokichi was hit with a scandal that centered around claiming trading among business partners without moving merchandise.
The scandal left behind a loss of ?17 billion, producing a 38 percent fall in sales.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the