Daikyo To Buy Anabuki Construction For Y30.7bn

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Daikyo Inc. (8840) said Monday that it will purchase a 100% stake in Anabuki Construction Inc. for 30.7 billion yen on April 1.

Anabuki, based in Kagawa Prefecture, is known for the Surpass brand of condominiums built mainly in regional cities. Through aggressive expansion, it had once risen to the No. 1 condominium builder in terms of units supplied to the market annually. But plunging demand and a worsening financing environment after the Lehman shock drove the firm into bankruptcy in 2009.

Anabuki has since been rebuilding under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law. Its trustee filed for the completion of the rehabilitation process in Tokyo District Court on Monday.

Daikyo ranked sixth among condominium builders in 2012, releasing 3,130 units to the market, while Anabuki stood at 15th with 1,376 units. Together, they would claim fourth place, after Nomura Real Estate Development Co., Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co. and Mitsubishi Jisho Residence Co.

"We will harness synergy effects, such as reductions in procurement costs of building materials," Daikyo President Akira Yamaguchi told a news conference Monday.

The president also listed condominium management, brokering of used units, and renovations as areas where Daikyo will seek synergies with Anabuki.

Together, they have the largest number of condo units under management at more than 500,000. Acquiring Anabuki will also help Daikyo boost its strength in western Japan.

All Anabuki shares are now held by JLK LLC, which is 4.72%-owned by Daikyo. J-Will Partners Co. and other investment partnerships own the rest of JLK.

(The Nikkei, March 12 morning edition)

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