Bic Camera Inc., the nation's No. 5 retailer of home electronics, plans to create the second biggest electronics retail chain after Yamada Denki Co. by acquiring Kojima Co., the seventh largest player in the industry.
Bic Camera will acquire a more than 50 percent stake in Kojima, possibly in June, but Kojima will remain on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with its name intact. The tieup between Bic Camera and Kojima represents an attempt by the home electronics retailers to survive in a shrinking market and to launch an offensive on Yamada Denki, the peerless leader in the industry.
Yamada had ¥2.15 trillion in sales in the year ended in March 2011. Bic Camera and Kojima had combined sales of ¥1.06 trillion in their latest reporting years. The two can expect to combine their respective strength to create complementary relationship. While Bic Camera has nearly 40 stores, mainly in front of large stations or in busy urban districts, Kojima has about 200 stores primarily in suburban areas. Kojima plans to shutter 40 to 50 unprofitable outlets over the next three years. It should take measures to minimize the damage those closures cause to local economies.