Japan’s Kitamura delisted following the acquisition by CK Holdings

GaryPageau , , ,

Thompson Reuters reports Kitamura Co. Ltd., one of Japan’s leading photo retailers, will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange Aug. 6 following the purchase of the company by CK Holdings, a subsidiary of Culture Convenience Club Co. Ltd. (CCC) In May, Culture Convenience Club offered a takeover bid for for 14.7 million shares (or no less than 7.7 million shares) of the company, at the price of 1,230 yen per share, during the period from May 16 to June 26. On June 27, the company announced the bid was successful, leading to the delisting.

According to Photo Imaging News, “Kitamura owns several companies and operates 1,182 retail locations in Japan, including the photo shops, Studio Mario photo studios, Apple Authorized Service Provider Certified Stores and the Labo Network Co., Ltd. central photofinishing service. In addition, there are 8 million members of Kitamura Net. CCC plans to obtain specialized profit through the transfer of all shares of Kitamura Medical, a consolidated subsidiary that develops a medical device wholesale business.” (The June 2018 of the Photo Imaging News PDF offers an excellent overview of the Kitamura/CCC transaction. Subscription info is here.)

CCC already has several photo-related businesses, including sports-photo company Photo Create. A full list of the company’s subsidiaries is here.

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Gary Pageau is principal of InfoCircle LLC, continuing his marketing communications career. InfoCircle LLC is a marketing and communications consulting firm, specializing in business-to-business markets. For nearly 25 years, he was with PMA International, serving most recently as Publisher, Content Development and Strategic Initiatives. His primary responsibilities included overseeing the Association’s editorial department, marketing research unit, education and corporate relations department.