ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today that ITOCHU has agreed on a capital and business partnership with Transcend Packaging Ltd. (headquartered in South Wales, the UK; CEO：Lorenzo Angelluci; hereinafter "Transcend Packaging") and acquired the company's shares.

Transcend Packaging specializes in environmentally-friendly and plastic-free food packaging made primarily from sustainable forest-derived paper and pulp.

Founded as a manufacturer and distributor of paper straws, the company has grown to become a leading player in the sector, leveraging a strong customer base consisting of major global food service and food manufacturing companies. Through a market-in approach, the company has diversified its product lineup, including paper cups, paper containers, cutlery, and other fiber molded products, with a particular focus on the European market where demand for environmental awareness and solutions is high.

Through this capital raising, the company will continue to expand its manufacturing facilities, solidifying its position as a leading company in the rapidly expanding European environmentally-friendly food packaging industry, and accelerating its business growth.

ITOCHU will play a crucial role as a strategic partner in supply chain management for Transcend Packaging as part of this capital business alliance besides supplying paper and pulp materials. The company also aims to expand its environmentally-friendly packaging business in Japan through its collaboration with Transcend Packaging.

ITOCHU has raised "Contribute to, and strengthen initiatives in the SDGs" as one of the Basic Policies in our medium-term management plan, and will accelerate to develop sustainable society by reducing its environmental impact by taking this business partnership with Transcend Packaging as a significant milestone to increase our focus on the eco-friendly wood-fiber-based material business.