Sogo Co. President Shigeaki Wada announced Friday that the department store chain will merge its operations with those of Seibu Department Ltd., its bankruptcy-rehabilitation sponsor suddenly experiencing its own difficulties.
The announcement came a day after Sogo, which filed for bankruptcy with staggering debts of 1.87 trillion yen in July 2000, was given court approval to emerge from rehabilitation.
According to Wada, the two department store chains are likely to keep their names under a holding company that will be established, possibly in June.