Yamato Holdings Co. and Marui Co. said Monday they will form a capital and operational tieup to maximize their management resources and boost their corporate value.
Yamato, which owns Yamato Transport Co., and Marui, an operator of department stores, will each invest 1 billion yen in each other's outstanding equities in addition to combining Yamato's door-to-door parcel delivery service and Marui's retail business, they said.
Yamato wants to tap Marui's customer base to prepare for the intense competition expected to arise from the privatization of the postal system in October, while Marui wants to improve its operating efficiency in the face of falling profits, industry analysts said.
The main part of the deal will be the merger of the two firms' wholly owned house-moving and other transportation units — Yamato Home Convenience Co. and Moving Co. The Yamato subsidiary will be the surviving entity. It will be owned 70 percent by Yamato Holdings and the rest by Marui.
"By working together, we will be able to offer customers much better services," Yamato Holdings President Kaoru Seto said at a news conference. "We could find common ground in customer-oriented services."
Marui President Hiroshi Aoi said his company has found "the best partner" for promoting a strategic alliance among all companies specializing in distribution.
In the year ended in March, Marui saw its consolidated net profit plunge 82.3 percent to 4.25 billion yen.