ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has reached an agreement with Adways Co., Ltd. (Headquartered in Shinjuku-u, Tokyo; Haruhisa Okamura, Founder & CEO; hereinafter “Adways”) to acquire common stock held by Adways through a private placement of its treasury stock with the objective of strengthening cooperative development.

With the agreement with Adways on October 20, 2011 to acquire 4,689 shares (equivalent to 5.9% of Adways’ outstanding shares as of the end of March 2011), in addition to the 11,600 shares of Adways’ outstanding shares (14.5% of Adways’ outstanding shares as of the end of March 2011) it already holds, ITOCHU will own a 20.4% stake of Adways, making it an equity method affiliate.

1． Purpose of additional acquisition of shares

Taking advantage of the capital participation in Adways and the alliance with the company in the Internet and mobile affiliate advertising business concluded on June 14, 2007, ITOCHU has taken steps to bolster its business and market development by capitalizing on its domestic and overseas networks. The additional acquisition of Adways’ shares was made possible with the aim of building a stronger partnership and accelerating cooperation with Adways in overseas business, mainly in the growing markets of China and other Asian countries, as well as in areas related to the smartphone.

2． Method and planned date of share acquisition

- Method of acquisition:　Acquisition of Adways’ treasury stock through private placement
- Planned date of acquisition: November 30,　2011
* Acquisition of the shares is subject to completion of review by the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

3． Profile of Adways Co., Ltd.

Established in 2001. It operates a range of businesses, including Smart-C, a mobile affiliate program with Japan’s largest ad spenders, JANet, an affiliate program for PC internet, AppDriver, advertising for smart phones, in addition to the design, development, and advertising of media content and applications. Its subsidiary, Adways China Co., Ltd., operates an Internet advertising business in China.

Company name	Adways Co., Ltd.
Representative	Haruhisa Okamura
Headquarters address	6-8-1 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Establishment	February 28, 2001
Capital	1,448 million yen (as of end of September 2011）
Number of employees (consolidated)	648  (as of end of September 2011）
Consolidated net sales	15,907 million yen (fiscal year ended March 2011）
URL	http://www.adways.net/en/