Goodwill Group Inc., the temporary staffing company that lost 75 percent of its market value this year, said Monday it will hold talks aimed at selling subsidiary Comsn Inc.'s nursing-home segment to Nichii Gakkan Co.
Nichii, a Tokyo-based hospital administrator, was the recommended buyer of the nursing homes, Goodwill said in a statement, citing an advisory panel it appointed to assist with the sale.
Nichii reportedly said it may buy the business for ¥10 billion.
Goodwill will continue looking for a buyer for Comsn's other pillar, home nursing care.
Comsn's president resigned in June to take responsibility for overcharges that led the government to ban it from expanding. The sanction stymied Goodwill's efforts to boost its share in an industry benefiting from the rapidly aging population.
"The news is positive short term because Goodwill finally seems to have found a company to buy the unit and raise cash," said Mitsushige Akino of Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo.