ITOCHU CHEMICAL FRONTIER Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Tsutomu Miyazaki, President & Chief Executive Officer; hereinafter "ITOCHU CHEMICAL FRONTIER") which is a subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") agreed to enter a business and capital alliance agreement with OAT Agrio Co., Ltd. (listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange; headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Akihei Mori, President CEO; hereinafter "OAT Agrio") and acquire 4.87% of all the issued shares of OAT Agrio.

ITOCHU CHEMICAL FRONTIER is the ITOCHU Group's core operating company in the field of organic chemicals. It deals in fine and specialty chemicals, intermediate chemicals, pharmaceutical ingredients, agrochemical ingredients, life science products, and other materials on a global scale.

OAT Agrio mainly engages in the research and development of advanced agrochemicals and fertilizer, searches for cultivation techniques, and handles production and sales both in Japan and other parts of the world. It is underlying management philosophy is “to contribute to the people in the world with our agritechnology and honesty.”

The demand for agricultural materials that help boost food production will increasingly expand overseas to keep pace with and support the world population that is expected to remain on the rise. In these circumstances, business expansion in markets outside Japan is one of the most important issues for both ITOCHU CHEMICAL FRONTIER and to OAT Agrio.
ITOCHU CHEMICAL FRONTIER intends to accelerate global business expansion in the agricultural market by fully capitalizing on the synergy stemming from OAT Agrio's technological innovation capabilities and cultivation techniques in the field of agrochemicals and fertilizers through this business alliance.