February 19, 2018
To whom it may concern:
Company name:OSAKA SODA CO, LTD.

Securities code:

4046 First Section, Tokyo Stock Exchange

Representative:

Kenshi Terada
Representative Director, Chief Operating Officer

For inquiry:

Takeharu Hanasaki
General Manager, Corporate Planning Department, Corporate
Strategy Division
Tel: +81-(0)6-6110-1560

Acquisition of NITTO KAKO Co., Ltd. Shares
Osaka Soda Co., Ltd. (The “Company”) today announced that the Company agreed toacquire 31.3% of the voting rights for shares in NITTO KAKO Co., Ltd., (“NITTO KAKO”)
held by Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd. which holds 36.3% of its shares with voting rights,
effective February 19, 2018.
1. Reasons for the acquisition of shares
NITTO KAKO is a manufacturer of the rubber compounds for vehicle application and themolded products such as rubber sheets or rubber mats for construction and gains highcustomer appreciation through technological abilities.
The Company and its affiliated companies are expanding business according to our mid-term
management plan “NEXT FRONTIER-100” in which “new products and new businesses” and“expansion of global business” are positioned as growth engine.
The Company boosted downstream expansion of compound business, especially, focusing
on “Epichlorohydrin Rubber” for office automation equipment which features a superior heatresistance, oil-resistance, and electrical conduction and on “Synthetic Rubber” such as
acrylic rubber for vehicle which features a superior heat-resistance and oil-resistance.
As a result of this acquisition, the Company merges the synthetic rubber technology theCompany owns with the rubber compounding technology and molding technologies NITTO
KAKO owns. The Company creates new products and develops new applications using
compounding technology. NITTO KAKO accelerates business expansion by developing
molded rubber products utilizing special synthetic rubber in addition to molded rubber
products utilizing general purpose rubber.

2. Outline of acquired company
(1)

Name:

NITTO KAKO Co., Ltd.

(2)

Address:

1-3, Ichinomiya 6-Chome, Samukawa-cho, Kouzagun, Kanagawa, Japan

(3)

(4)

Name and title ofRyohei Arakawa

representative

Representative Director and President

Outline of business

Production and sale of rubber products (rubbercompounds, sheet, mat, molded product etc.) andresin products (high-performance resin compounds,resin cleaning agents etc.)(5)Stated capital

1,920 million yen(6)Date of incorporation

July 1, 1949

(7)

Majorshareholders

andpercentage of voting rights(8)

Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd. 36.3%
AICHI TIRE INDUSTRY CO., LTD. 5.3%

There is no capital, personnel, or business relationship between the Company andNITTO KAKO.

(9)

Financial results and Financial positions for the last three years(Unit: million yen)

For the fiscal year

For the fiscal year

For the fiscal year

ended Mar. 31, 2015

ended Mar. 31, 2016

ended Mar. 31, 2017

Net assets

2,158

2,034

2,366

Total assets

7,367

6,754

6,142

Net Sales

10,186

9,217

7,949

Operating profit-96163315

Ordinary profit-106150304

Net profit-103-120330

3. Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd.
The Company acquires the shares of NITTO KAKO Co., Ltd. from Mitsubishi ChemicalCo., Ltd. There is no capital or personnel relationship between Mitsubishi Chemical Co.,
Ltd. and the Company.
4. Number of shares to be acquired and share ownership before and after acquisition(1) Number of shares held before acquisition

0 shares(Percentage of voting rights: 0%)(2) Number of shares to be acquired

1,200,000 shares(3) Number of shares held after acquisition

1,200,000 shares(Percentage of voting rights: 31.3%)

5. Schedule(1) Execution of share purchase agreements

February 19, 2018

(2) Date of acquisition of shares

March 23, 2018

6. Outlook
According to this acquisition of shares, NITTO KAKO is scheduled to become an equity
method affiliate of the Company. The impact on the Company’s financial results for thefiscal year ended March 31, 2018 is expected to be minimal.