Aeon Set to Make Drugstore Chain Tsuruha Subsidiary Next Week

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–Major Japanese supermarket operator Aeon Co. is set to make drugstore chain Tsuruha Holdings Inc. a subsidiary next week following a tender offer that ended Tuesday. Aeon said Wednesday that it received sell offers for 50.11 pct of Tsuruha shares in terms of voting rights in the tender offer, which ran from Dec. 3, 2025. Aeon will acquire all of the shares, and Tsuruha will become an Aeon subsidiary Wednesday next week. Tsuruha will remain listed on the Prime section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Aeon revised up its consolidated earnings estimates, reflecting the acquisition of Tsuruha. For the year ending next month, operating revenue is projected at 10.7 trillion yen, up from the previously forecast 10.5 trillion yen, operating profit at 275 billion yen, up from 270 billion yen, and net profit at 60 billion to 70 billion yen, up from 40 billion yen. In the tender offer, Aeon proposed buying Tsuruha shares at 2,900 yen apiece. As sell offers failed to reach Aeon’s target of 50.9 pct, the company will additionally buy Tsuruha shares on the stock market to raise the ownership to that level by the end of April. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]