Hints and tips:
...Investors coming to the sogo shosha now would do better with a Japanese index fund....
...Revenues at Seibu and Sogo department stores declined 45 per cent over the past decade to sales of ¥447bn ($3bn) in the year ending March 2022....
...At the same time, the value of the sogo shosha stakes in dollar terms may not decline so much because of their foreign currency earnings....
...Berkshire Hathaway, through its subsidiary National Indemnity, holds a 5 per cent-plus stake in each of the five sogo shosha, or general trading houses, according to Japanese regulatory filings submitted...
...Japan’s sogo shosha — or general trading houses — have a distinctive culture, fierce competitive streak and a horror of being compared to their rivals....
...Marubeni, one of Japan’s leading trading houses, or sogo shosha, initially announced last May the purchase of Gavilon, owned by hedge funds including Ospraie Management, led by Dwight Anderson, and Soros...
...Sumitomo is the only sogo shosha with significant interests in the Australian agribusiness industry, but industry executives believe that the company is not interested in a bid for GrainCorp....
...These include groups such as Lifestyle, which owns the Hong Kong franchise of department store chain Sogo, and property groups such as K Wah, Nan Fung, Sinoland and New World Services, many of which are...
...Marubeni and its fellow Japanese sogo shosha (general trading houses) – Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Itochu – have a way to go to join them....
...“We’re just a humble Japanese sogo shosha,” says Mr Iseda, with a smile. “We know we cannot compete with the majors on resources and capability. But we want to grow.”...
...The Japanese trading houses, or sogo shosha, have recently embarked on a buying spree and some, such as Marubeni, already have large interests in agricultural commodities....
...The strength of Japan’s trading houses, known as the sogo shosha, is a welcome boost for corporate Japan, at a time when many companies are reporting weak earnings and revising down earnings forecasts....
...“The TSE would have to strike a balance between the effect on the market, shareholders and public opinion on Olympus,” said Hiroyuki Kamano, a lawyer specialising in corporate governance at Kamano Sogo Law...
...“The TSE has been very flexible about what ‘material effect’ is in the past,” said Hiroyuki Kamano, a lawyer at Kamano Sogo Law Offices, who specialises in corporate governance....
...In addition, Japan’s general traders, or sogo shosha, dominate at home and in the region: Mitsubishi, Mitsui & Co, Sumitomo, Itochu and Marubeni....
...The Japanese trading houses, or sogo shosha, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Itochu and Marubeni, are also public companies....
...Japanese trading companies, or sogo shosha, have traditionally focused on importing oil and other commodities to their resource-poor home market....
...five-year-old plastic bag business – a tiny part of its huge trading and investment empire – is an example of how China is playing a more central role in the operations of some of Japan’s biggest companies, the sogo...
...focused on single commodities markets – such as Vitol and Trafigura in energy or ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus in agriculture, or geographical locations – such as the Japanese trading houses, or sogo...
...Mitsui & Co, Japan’s second largest sogo shosha or general trading company, added that the global economy appeared to have “started to pull out” of the recession, while its larger rival Mitsubishi said the...
...The move by the sogo shosha, or general trading companies, comes as the Japanese government prepares to launch plans this month to finance investment in food production overseas....
...Also under renewed scrutiny is the transfer of ownership of Sogo department store operations in Taiwan and China to the Far Eastern Group after the local owners ran into liquidity problems in 2002 and sought...
...It has made about 20 deals in Japanese companies, including buy-outs of Millennium Retailing, the operator of the Sogo and Seibu department store chains, and Skylark, a casual restaurant chain....
...Aware of their vulnerability, the sogo shosha – literally, general trading companies – are forging ahead with new strategies....
...Meanwhile, the acquisition of Millennium Retailing – which operates the Seibu and Sogo department stores – will allow Seven & I to diversify beyond convenience and general merchandise stores and offer big...
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