JIP sells Japanese phone retailer ITX for $433m

According to AVCJ Research, the sale price falls short of the JPY53 billion (then $676 million) JIP paid in August 2012 when it acquired ITX from digital camera giant Olympus. The electronics giant made several non-core divestments at the time following a $1.7 billion accounting fraud scandal in 2011.

ITX operates retail outlets for Japanese mobile phone carriers and currently claims to be the country's fifth-largest retailer in its category. According to market research firm Seed Planning, ITX sold 2.66 million phones in the 2013 financial year.

The company started life as a technology investment fund launched by the information communications unit of defunct trading house, Nissho Iwai - now Sojitz. The busines was acquired by Olympus in 2005.

Nojima is understood to have acquired the business in an attempt to offset a drop in home appliance sales following the Japan consumption tax hike in April. The company also acquired Kenwood Geobit, a subsidiary of JVC Kenwood, in March. Nojima now has over 100 mobile phone shops in its network.

JIP has completed a number of deals in Japan's consumer electronics space this year.

Earlier this month it sold its 26.5% stake in electronic parts maker Elna to electronic firm Taiyo Yuden for an undisclosed amount. It also exited a 100% stake in electrical components manufacturer Yutaka Electric to GlassOne, a manufacturer of touch screen panels for tablets and smart phones, in April.

On the investment side, JIP acquired Biglobe, Japan's fourth-largest internet service provider (ISP) by number of customers, from NEC and then bought Sony's loss-making Vaio PC division in February.

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• Topics
• North Asia
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• Japan
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• Japan Industrial Partners
• buyout
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