ITOCHU Announces Capital/Business Partnership between Rakuten and Ecosystem Japan

January 23, 2013

ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has agreed to transfer part of the shares it holds in Ecosystem Japan Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Toshio Shigemi, President; hereinafter “Ecosystem Japan”) to RS Empowerment Inc. (headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Hiroshi Takazawa, President; hereinafter “RSE”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rakuten, Inc. (headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman & CEO; hereinafter “Rakuten”). The shares will be transferred following the necessary approval of the relevant authorities. After the transfer of shares, the holding of ITOCHU in Ecosystem Japan will decline from 82.65% to 49.25%, and RSE will hold 33.40%.

Rakuten Solar, a service launched jointly by Rakuten and Ecosystem Japan in July 2012, has an significant record of sales and installation work. To further promote sales of solar power generation systems using Rakuten’s strong online sales network, ITOCHU has decided to develop relations with Rakuten through the transfer of shares in Ecosystem Japan to RSE.

As major shareholders of Ecosystem Japan, ITOCHU and Rakuten will seek to enhance the corporate value of Ecosystem Japan in cooperation with each other, using their strengths. ITOCHU will bolster the sales and procurement capability of Ecosystem Japan, using its networks in Japan and overseas. Rakuten will support online sales by Ecosystem Japan by providing its online sales function.

Overview of Ecosystem Japan Co., Ltd.

Company name Ecosystem Japan Co., Ltd.
Head office

Minato-ku, Tokyo

Representative

President Toshio Shigemi

Established May 1997
Capital

372.83 million yen

Business Sale and installation of solar power generation systems and other equipment and incidental operations at 14 bases nationwide, including the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, an Fukuoka branches
Number of employees

292 on a consolidated basis (as of October 2012)