News

Equity Participation in Landscape Co., Ltd.

Mar. 2, 2021

Mitsui & Co., Principal Investments Ltd. ("MCPI", President and CEO: Nobuyuki Goto), an investment subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga), has entered into an agreement to invest in Landscape Co., Ltd. ("Landscape", Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Nami Fukutomi), and transactions relating to the investment have been completed.

Landscape possesses some of Japan’s biggest databases and provides services that assist its clients to improve their BtoB marketing efficiency and achieve sales growth. Its "LBC" database contains information of about 8.2 million business establishments and covers 99.7% of all business sites in Japan. Furthermore, information stored for each company contains group company information such as capital relationships, head offices and branches. Landscape also offers "uSonar", the customer data integration tool containing LBC. The business card management app, "meishiSonar" that can be added as an optional extension, allows its users to link the names on the business cards to about 8.2 million companies. By providing those tools that can be linked to clients’ SFA and MA tools, Landscape helps clients to integrate customer data resources scattered within their organizations, visualize white spaces and priority marketing targets, and maximize their BtoB marketing efficiency.

MCPI will help Landscape to achieve further growth and strengthen its business base by leveraging Mitsui’s global networks, MCPI’s expertise in IT business, and its management improvement capabilities. MCPI will also assign a non-executive director and frontline staff to support Landscape’s efforts to enhance its corporate value.

Mr. Fukutomi, who founded Landscape and built its business, will continue to be involved as President and CEO and a shareholder. Mr. Fukutomi, Landscape’s officers and employees, and MCPI will work closely together to accelerate Landscape’s growth and eventually achieve listing of its stock.

MCPI was established in 2003 as a private equity arm backed by Mitsui group and follows Mitsui’s slogan "Challenge and Innovation" in its engagement in the investment business. MCPI aspires to (1) create corporate value by leveraging Mitsui’s networks, (2) achieve operational improvement by providing hands-on support, and (3) propose a flexible investment structure. MCPI makes private equity investments both in Japan and overseas, providing managerial supports to investee companies in various industries.