Trader Sumitomo to Acquire IT Service Firm SCSK

Tokyo, Oct. 30 (Jiji Press)–Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. has announced its plan to make Tokyo-based major information technology service provider SCSK Corp. a wholly owned subsidiary through a takeover bid valued at some 882 billion yen. Sumitomo already holds a 50.6 pct equity stake in SCSK. According to the announcement on Wednesday, the purchase price is set at 5,700 yen per share, about 30 pct higher than SCSK’s closing price of 4,334 yen on the same day. By fully acquiring SCSK, Sumitomo aims to improve management efficiency and strengthen its artificial intelligence business. The takeover bid will run from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, and if successful, the deal would result in the delisting of SCSK’s shares. SCSK has expressed its support for the takeover bid. Sumitomo President Shingo Ueno told a press conference in Tokyo that the evolution of generative AI is transforming business operations across various fields. “We, the two companies, want to bring our strengths to the table and lead the social transformation together,” Ueno said. SCSK President Takaaki Toma, also present at the press conference, emphasized that by becoming a wholly owned unit of Sumitomo, his company “needs to participate in projects from the conceptual and planning stages” to adapt to rapid changes in the business environment. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]