Oct. 25th, 2013 TAIYO NIPPON SANSO Corporation (TNSC) has invested Benson Industrial Gases Technology (BIG) since the end of November, 2013, by way of Capital Increase Shares by third-party allotment in shares of the BIG, and a Capital Investment and business alliance agreement have been signed on October 10th, 2013, as picture below.
TNSC was founded in 1910, and is the biggest industrial gases manufacturer in Japan, the group annual revenue amounted to approximately 500 billion Japanese yen, it is in the top five ranking in world industrial Gases market, they also have 70 companies in Asia, Europe and North America, they have intended to expand more companies through acquisition and investments in Asia and North America in recent years.
TNSC mentioned, as an industrial gas manufacturer, TNSC has been developing its PSA gas generators business, primarily within Japan, for approximately 30 years. The domestic PSA gas generators market is centered on replacement and has been stable, but there are concerns about the increasing number of Japanese companies shifting their operations overseas. For this reason, both parties concluded that there is an urgent need to enter the Southeast Asian and Chinese markets, in which growth is expected going forward, in order to expand mutual business. BIG has a manufacturing base in Suzhou, China, and is operating a PSA gas generator business in the Asian region. By acquiring approximately 30% of its shares, we are aiming to secure a stable supply of the high quality adsorbent agents which form the core technology in PSA gas generators. And at the same time to utilize the manufacturing, sales, and service network of BIG in the Asian region to accelerate the overseas development of the PSA gas generator business of TNSC.
In addition, BIG utilizes the new capital with combining TNSC technology research and development of core technologies to PSA adsorbent materials, improve the ability to reduce the produce energy with a stable supply. Through this series of Joint policies, TNSC forecast that as a result of these measures the net sales of that business in TNSC will be 2.5 billion yen in 2016, approximately double the current levels.