ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yoshihisa Suzuki, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it will acquire 90% of the outstanding shares of Gardia, Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yutaka Koyama, President & CEO; hereinafter “Gardia”), which operates the retail credit guarantee business for business owners in the FinTech/RetailTech area.

Gardia was established in 2017 as a pioneer in the retail credit guarantee business sector. The company mainly provides credit guarantee services for “No Show” at restaurants and accommodation facilities, and for subscription service providers, as well as guaranteed post-paid services for pre-paid card providers. Gardia’s new guarantee services are offered to many businesses in order to level retail credit risks defined by a variety of technology.

ITOCHU will enter the retail credit guarantee business through the acquisition of Gardia as a consolidated subsidiary. Through Gardia, ITOCHU will develop its market-oriented business in the retail credit guarantee business area, working to further improve the quality of retail credit guarantees and expand the business.

In addition, by taking advantage of Gardia’s creativity in pioneering the retail credit guarantee business sector and the ITOCHU Group’s know-how in the insurance field cultivated over many years, ITOCHU will emphatically support venture companies by aggressively taking the new business risks.

This initiative is in line with the policies of “enriching the customer experience” and “proposing new retail solutions” upheld by ITOCHU in its medium-term management plan, “Brand-new Deal 2020. Becoming a Next-Generation Merchant.” With the development of the digital society, people’s needs and behaviors are changing day by day. By leveraging ITOCHU's domestic and overseas networks and Group synergies, ITOCHU will contribute to the creation of new services and the diversification of points of contact with customers, with the aim of achieving further business growth.